Australian Assistant Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Matt Thistlethwaite tells CNA's Paul Sng that countries must work together to counter increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks and transnational cybercrime.
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15 Oct 2026 03:00PM
SINGAPORE: Artificial intelligence is allowing cybercriminals to launch attacks faster and on a larger scale, making cooperation to combat cybercrime and protect critical infrastructure increasingly important, said Australia's Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Matt Thistlethwaite.
Mr Thistlethwaite, who attended Singapore International Cyber Week, told CNA on Wednesday (Oct 14) that he believed governments were keeping pace with the growing threats.
"We know what the challenge is, and we know what the threats are. What artificial intelligence has done has sped up the threat and the scale of it," said Mr Thistlethwaite, who is also Australia's assistant minister for immigration.
He said cyberattacks that previously required weeks of coding can now be carried out in seconds or minutes using AI.
The challenge for governments is to use the same technology to counter these threats, he added.
PROTECTING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Mr Thistlethwaite said AI is making it easier for cybercriminals to breach networks, raising concerns about the protection of critical infrastructure, including power supplies, hospitals and transport systems.
"When you talked about cyber threats four or five years ago, it was basically human-based threats. Now we're talking about artificial intelligence-based systems that are speeding up the threat actors' ability to crack into systems and to threaten networks," he said.
In response to the evolving risks, the Australian government established an Office of AI in July to oversee the implementation of proposed national AI standards, including requirements for large data centres.
Separately, Australia has existing laws requiring operators of certain critical infrastructure assets to take additional cybersecurity measures, Mr Thistlethwaite noted.
These include requirements for certain operators to report cyber incidents, manage security risks and provide information about critical infrastructure assets.
AUSTRALIA-SINGAPORE CYBER COOPERATION
Mr Thistlethwaite also highlighted Australia's close cybersecurity cooperation with Singapore.
The two countries renewed their cybersecurity cooperation agreement earlier this year, with plans to strengthen information sharing, joint exercises, training and regional capacity building.
He said both countries are working to strengthen their ability to combat cybercrime, with Australia keen to support Singapore as it prepares to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2027.
Cybercrime and AI are expected to feature prominently on Singapore's agenda during its chairmanship, he said, adding that Australia wants to contribute to regional efforts to tackle these issues.
"We want to assist Singapore in providing that capacity uplift and that cooperation," he added.
Australia is also investing A$83.5 million (US$58.5 million) over four years, from 2024 to 2028, to strengthen cybersecurity capabilities across the Indo-Pacific.
The funding is part of its Southeast Asia and Pacific Cyber Program, which supports regional efforts to prepare for and respond to cyber incidents, improve cybersecurity training and develop policies and regulations.
Mr Thistlethwaite said the success of these investments would be measured by improvements in cybersecurity capabilities across the region.
He added that Australia is particularly focused on helping Pacific nations equip their public servants with the training, expertise and technology needed to respond to cyber threats.
TACKLING SOUTHEAST ASIA'S SCAM CENTRES
Mr Thistlethwaite also expressed concern about the threat posed by scam centres in Southeast Asia, where trafficked individuals are forced to carry out online fraud.
"We've seen the prevalence of scam centres being set up, people being trafficked to operate those scam centres, and very serious transnational crime being undertaken," he said.
He cited Operation Firestorm, an Australian Federal Police initiative launched in August 2024 to disrupt transnational scam networks, as an example of regional cooperation against such crimes.
Mr Thistlethwaite said Australian and Thai authorities had shared intelligence to bust a scam centre operation in Thailand.
"There were unfortunately hundreds of individuals who'd been trafficked into a remote region and were being exploited," he added.
AUSTRALIA EYES UN CYBERCRIME TREATY RATIFICATION IN 2027
Australia is also working towards ratifying the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime in the first half of 2027, Mr Thistlethwaite said.
The country signed the convention in Hanoi in October 2025. The treaty aims to strengthen international cooperation in combating cybercrime and sharing electronic evidence for serious criminal offences.
Mr Thistlethwaite said Australia had also pushed for provisions in the convention to protect children from exploitation through technology.
"We're going through the process of ratification through our domestic processes at the moment, and we should be in a position to formally ratify the convention in the first half of next year," he added.
Beyond government cooperation, Mr Thistlethwaite said working with AI developers and technology companies would also be essential to counter cyber threats.
"We're talking about training the tech to defeat the tech and make sure that systems and operations, and indeed people's personal and private information, remain safe."
Source: CNA/mp(sn)