Modern wars are not just fought on the land, in the air, or at sea. They are increasingly contested in real time in cyberspace. The bad news is that in Australia's case that conflict has already begun.

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Foreign bad actors are working around the clock to target Australian resources and infrastructure. They seek to disrupt essential services and to steal valuable data.

This prompted the Australian Signals Directorate, a technology-heavy counter-intelligence agency that can trace its origins back to World War II, to issue a joint warning with international partner agencies about what is already happening under people's noses.

The agency said foreign hackers are already attacking critical local targets. These industries include defence, communications, energy, state government, local government, and financial services. The media, mining corporations, medical facilities and even local councils are all potential targets.

While many will hear the warning and dismiss it as "same old, same old" that just makes them a part of the problem. Complacency leads to vulnerability.

That's because the biggest threat to cyber security is not the technical systems that organisations employ but the people who use them. Human error can compromise even the most advanced digital defences. Safeguards fail when people fail to observe simple safety protocols.

While it would be wrong to say that individuals are innately lazy it is easy for busy people to become complacent. Familiarity does breed a degree of........

© Canberra Times