Australians should prepare for more basic and important online services to go offline unexpectedly, the nation’s signals intelligence agency has warned, urging that “system security must be prioritised over system availability”.

The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) also says businesses and critical infrastructure must use cutting-edge AI models to defend against digital threats, raising alarm that artificial intelligence is enabling more dangerous threats than ever.

In its annual cyber threat report, ASD warns hostile foreign governments, criminals and hackers are using AI to gather intelligence, disrupt critical infrastructure and steal money, and that Australians should fight fire with fire.

“We need AI tools to help automate our defences to stay ahead of AI-enabled attackers,” the ASD director general, Abigail Bradshaw, said on Monday.

“Australia must accelerate the modernisation of its technology and cybersecurity foundations to protect the systems we rely on every day.”

The annual threat…