Australia is increasingly at risk of attack from Internet criminals, hackers and cyber-bullies, says a new government document.
They say that billions of dollars are being lost, confidence is deteriorating and the threat is growing for the welfare of the nation, economic prosperity and wider interests.
The document has been published as part of developing a cyber white paper to be completed next year.
It warns that Australia must develop new ways to deal with cyberspace, with an increased vulnerability as the use of fungi Internet.
More than 10 million Australians have joined the network - most of them with high-speed connections - with a doubling in the number of large consumers.
Last December, only downloaded nearly twice what they did during the June quarter 2009, according to the document.
Online business is also booming. The Bureau of Statistics said that nearly a $ 143 billion (U.S. $ 179 million) of Internet orders were received by Australian companies in the period 2009-2010 - 15 percent over the previous year.
But the paper warns that the availability of cheap cyber tools and high value information that individuals, businesses and governments online store, malicious cyber activity is a growth industry.
The document says that the overall risk of cyber crime economy is more than A $ 1 billion a year, and last year the major Australian organizations cyber intrusions cost an average of A $ 2 million each.
Reported losses to online fraud amounted to more than A $ 63 million.
The number of personnel is also growing.
The paper says that more than 50 percent of the nation's teachers at least one cyber security incident reporting directly to them last year.
Bullying is now the most reported cyber incident in Australian schools and a 2009 study found that more than 10 percent of high school students had experienced some form of cyberbullying.
National security is also under threat: more than 200 cyber intrusions against the Department of Defense were investigated in 2009.
The document also says that while the future prosperity of the nation is increasingly linked to the trust and confidence in the digital economy, the global reach of Internet has opened vast new fields and always "enormous incentive" for crime organized.
"Cybercrime can undermine consumer confidence in electronic commerce, with research showing consumers' concerns of safety are a key impediment to further growth in the digital economy," says the document.
"Consumers are particularly concerned by the registration of personal data and the use of credit cards for online transactions, with [an Australian Bureau of Statistics] Survey fact that over 1 million Australians were afraid to shop online for reasons security or privacy.
"Similarly, companies in digital modern economies are becoming victims of cyber crime for financial reasons."
The document says that nearly 80 percent of respondents do not expect cybercriminals to be brought to justice.
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