Ukraine Crisis: New Zealand watchful of cyber war threat from Russia, says foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said New Zealand "strongly condemns all malicious use of cyberspace", and suggested New Zealand would likely call out Russia if it decided to launch cyberattacks against backers of Ukraine.

However her comments also suggest that New Zealand would not launch a retaliatory cyberattack against Russia. The remarks came as Australian media reported the country might be drawn into a retaliatory cyber war with Russia if Russia lashed out against Australia's ally, the United States.

Recently, senior American officials warned American businesses that the US government had detected Russian preparations for a possible cyber attack on critical infrastructure like power grids, water supplies, hospitals, and transport networks.

Cyber security adviser to President Joe Biden, Anne Neuberger, told media in Sydney last week the United States would support Australia in the event that it too suffered a major cyber attack.

Neuberger was asked whether she expected Australia to invoke the Anzus defence agreement between the United States and Australia (and New Zealand - although New Zealand has been suspended from the agreement for decades), if the US is to come to Australia's aid.

Neuberger told media "If Russia initiates a cyber attack on the US, we will respond".

This could mean Australia would be drawn into a cyber war in defence of the United States, if it were attacked.

The Sydney Morning Herald said she responded saying "the partnership between the US and Australia on intelligence and cybersecurity is so deep that we would expect that if there was any significant cyber attack, whether in Australia or the US, we would each be there for the other in terms of rapid intelligence sharing, rapid incident response and remediation, and then determining attribution and consequences".

Former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard had the agreement amended in 2011 to include cyber-attacks.

Mahuta was less bellicose.

Speaking to Neuberger's remarks, she said New Zealand had a history of publicly calling out the perpetrators of cyber warfare, but pointedly said New Zealand was unlikely to retaliate.

"Aotearoa New Zealand strongly condemns all malicious use of cyberspace. Cyber attacks by state actors against critical infrastructure are a breach of the framework of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace," Mahuta said.

"We have previously responded to cyber attacks by state actors against New Zealand and our international partners with public attribution statements," she said.

Mahuta said New Zealand was aware that Russia may use cyber war "against countries that have stood up to its aggression on Ukraine".

"New Zealand continues to work with our international partners to build collective resilience against such potential attacks," she said.