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The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has warned that increased geopolitical tensions are likely to lead to increased cyber attacks on local financial institutions.
In the authority’s 2025-2026 corporate plan, APRA chair John Lonsdale said geopolitical tensions like those created by Israel’s presence in Gaza and the Russian “special operation” in Ukraine could result in increased cyber attacks targeting Australia.
“Operational systems in financial institutions are increasingly vulnerable to technology outages and malicious cyber attacks,” Lonsdale said.
“The risk environment for cyber attacks could worsen further in the context of escalating geopolitical tensions.”
Following Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s move to recognise the Palestinian state, and Israel’s response, hacktivists groups have already begun to make their mark on government agencies and education institutions.
DieNet, a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack group that first appeared on 7 March 2025, claimed DDoS attacks on both the official NSW government job portal and the University of Western Australia.
The group claimed in the early hours of this morning (19 August 2025) to have launched a DDoS on iworkfor.nsw.gov.au, the NSW government’s official job portal, saying it was part of a push to encourage the government to boycott Israel in light of its activity in Gaza.
“This is a kind of pressure directed against the Australian government to reverse its decisions supporting Israel, and to move towards a serious boycott of Israel.
“The turn is now for all the countries that support killing from behind the scenes. Many of them have begun to feel the heat and the pressure and have begun to back down from their decisions, but DieNet want [sic] more than that,” it said.
Lonsdale also said that Australian banks and financial institutions’ adoption of AI is also creating emerging risks, something that APRA would be evaluating in its corporate plan.
“In the first half of 2025–26, APRA will undertake targeted supervisory engagements with a group of larger entities to understand better emerging practices and potential risks associated AI,” said APRA.
“These engagements will assess the appropriateness of risk management and oversight practices to support responsible adoption of AI across the financial system.”
While APRA did not outline the specifics of the risks it would be looking for, it is likely that threats to job security, privacy and security will be of particular interest.
Australia’s largest bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), has dived headfirst into AI adoption but has already run into issues that saw it take a back step.
Last month, the bank announced that it would be culling at least 45 customer service workers and replacing them with AI support chatbots.
“Our investment in technology, including AI, is making it easier and faster for customers to get help, especially in our call centres,” a CBA spokesman said regarding the voice bot.
The move was immediately slammed by the Finance Sector Union (FSU).
“Just when we think CBA can’t sink any lower, they start cutting jobs because of AI on top of sneakily offshoring work to India,” said FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano.
“If this is what [CBA CEO] Matt Comyn calls productivity, we’re seriously concerned about his place at the national productivity roundtable.”
However, it turns out CBA’s claims of the AI lowering call volumes were false, with FSU members reporting that volumes were increasing, leading to CBA management asking team leaders to pick up the phones and the company offering overtime.
Following major pressure from FSU members and a Fair Work Commission dispute, the CBA decided to roll back the mass termination. Staff are being offered their jobs back or the option to take a voluntary exit payment.
“This is a massive win for workers, proving what can be achieved when members stand together – but let’s be clear, this is no victory lap,” said Angrisano.
“CBA has been caught out trying to dress up job cuts as innovation. Using AI as a cover for slashing secure jobs is a cynical cost-cutting exercise, and workers know it.”
APRA said it aims to achieve its goals of the plan over a four-year period, with “specific policy and supervision priorities” being reached within the next 12 to 18 months.
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