In its opening, Australia's Offensive Cyber Capability report issues a stark warning about the ease in which a cyberattack can strike and the potential scope of its destruction.
It stresses that it is now "possible for a nation to launch a cyberattack against another and cause immense damage - without ever firing a shot."
Head of the International Cyber Policy Centre at the Australian Strategic Policy, Fergus Hanson co-authored the report.
He says unlike conventional weapons assaults, cyberattacks can be carried out virtually anywhere around the world.
"They have global reach and they can be very targeted so you can go after very specific pieces of infrastructure," he told SBS News.
Keeping up with global players
A major recommendation of the report is that Australia invest heavily in its cyber operations, a necessary step, it says, to keep up with global players.
It points to staffing as an issue, suggesting the government put more money into recruiting and training, as well as salaries and incentives to develop a highly sophisticated team.
The report was also critical of sensationalist media coverage, warning the government to be cautious in the way it communicates.
Mr Hanson points to examples where the government has made announcements about our cyber abilities from both military and law enforcement perspectives, on the same day.
"In the media and the public reporting that's happened after that, those two distinct capabilities have been conflated so you could be left with the impression that we were going to be using the Australian military to go after cyber criminals," he said.
More than 100 states with cyber units
ASPI recommends the government create an asymmetric capability - a capability that won't easily be countered by militaries in the region.
In its research, the organisation identified more than 100 states with military and intelligence cyber units.
The US, the report says, is among the most transparent and advanced in terms of its capabilities.
Mr Hanson says the way in which different governments engage in cyber operations covers a wide spectrum.
China for example, has been widely accused of using cyber tools to execute intellectual property theft, while North Korea is accused of stealing money.
"You've got countries like Russia that use their cyber capabilities for a lot of blunt force type of operations, so we've seen them, in reckless operations, take out Ukraine's power supply, he says.
"At the other end of the spectrum you've got countries that are really just starting to build up a very basic capability in this space."
Data misuse an emerging concern
It's now widely believed cyber operations have been infiltrating politics, with the US accusing Russia of interfering in the 2016 Presidential election.
Data breach is another emerging concern as evidenced by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg having to testify in front of two US Congressional hearings.
The social media site recently admitted that the personal information of up to 87 million users may have been improperly shared with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.
APSI's Fergus Hanson said while Australia has passed data breach notification laws, which came into effect in February
"That's a good development, in that it incentivises companies to disclose when data breaches take place."
But, he concedes, there is still progress to be made.
"There are a lot of data breaches that are taking place every day so I think we still have a long way to go before companies have hardened up their cyber security defences so these become less common, but that's a step in the right direction."
