Security News > 2021 > October > Australia to tackle ransomware data breaches by deleting stolen files
Australia's Minister for Home Affairs has announced the "Australian Government's Ransomware Action Plan," which is a set of new measures the country will adopt in an attempt to tackle the rising threat.
Ransomware is a global problem, and Australian businesses aren't excluded from costly service-disrupting attacks.
According to a report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, in the first half of 2021, data breaches resulting from ransomware attacks grew by 24% compared to H2 2020.
To address the risk, the Australian government has approved a massive investment of AU $1.67 billion over ten years through Australia's Cyber Security Strategy 2020, with the ransomware plan a part of the initiative.
These new powers will allow law enforcement to delete data stolen during ransomware attacks and stored on servers operated by the attackers for use in double-extortion schemes.
The announcement of the new ransomware action plan in Australia is in line with what international allies are doing to tackle the problem, with only Russia and China left out of talks.