Following a colossal digital blackout that engulfed the entire globe Friday, Australia’s cyber intelligence agency issued a grim warning regarding the surge of “malicious websites and unofficial code” that could be doing the rounds on the web, promising recovery solutions. The massive outage was experienced by media, retailers, banks, and airlines across the world because of a bungled software update from CrowdStrike.

Australia was one of the many countries similarly hit, leading to massive mayhem. On Saturday, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) – the country’s cyber intelligence agency – said “a number of malicious websites and unofficial code are being released claiming to help entities recover from the widespread outages caused by the CrowdStrike technical incident”.

On its website, the agency said its cyber security centre “strongly encourages all consumers to source their technical information and updates from official CrowdStrike sources only”.

Likewise, a warning was also issued by Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil on the social media platform X, as she warned cybercriminals were targeting Australians with a fresh wave of scams and phishing attacks. She added that getting information from the right sources was key to avoiding cyber risks.

The Friday outage had quite a toll on key institutions in Australia. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s largest bank, reported that it was having problems and that some clients could not process transactions. Qantas, the national airline, and the Sydney Airport said there were delays to flights but continued to operate.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese explained late Friday that there had been no impact on critical infrastructure, government services, or emergency phone systems. His reassurance contained fears about just how bad the effects of the outage were.

The warning by the cyber intelligence agency underlines the high risk of cyber threats following sweeping digital disruptions. At a time when digital disruption is happening at breakneck speed and things are getting increasingly complex, the importance of relying on checked and trustable sources for technical support and updates cannot be overemphasised. This incident underscores vulnerabilities that come with developments in technology and requirements for good cybersecurity measures to safeguard people from malignant elements.