Australian and partner agencies warn of router exploits targeting critical sectors

The Australian Signals Directorate on 14 July 2026 issued a warning that Russian-linked hackers are targeting critical Australian industries including defence, communications, energy, financial services, healthcare and state and local government agencies.

Abc reported that the alert was issued jointly with nearly two dozen partner agencies including the United States National Security Agency and agencies from the UK, New Zealand, Canada, Finland, France and Denmark. The hackers, linked to Russia's Federal Security Service, exploit network devices such as routers that have outdated software and predictable or default passwords.

Abc reported that the named groups include Berserk Bear, Energetic Bear, Crouching Yeti, Dragonfly, Ghost Blizzard and Static Tundra. Alastair MacGibbon, a former head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre, said a unit of one of Russia's intelligence agencies has spent more than a decade breaking into routers and switches.

He described the technique as equivalent to walking around the internet and rattling the doors of organisations left in factory settings.

The Australian Signals Directorate recommended that organisations update software, secure network devices and improve password security. MacGibbon added that many routers should sit behind firewalls and never be accessible to the internet. Australian Signals Directorate data shows a cybercrime report is made about every six minutes.

Five Eyes countries issued a joint warning last month about the cyber risk posed by artificial intelligence and urged agencies to pull unnecessary systems offline.