Australia to get Cyber Defence Command
25 Nov 2009
A new emergency response team to deal with cyber attacks, to be named CERT Australia, will start up in January 2010 as part of the Federal Government’s new strategy for cyber security.
The Cyber Security Strategy formalises the roles, responsibilities and policies of Australian intelligence, cyber and policing agencies to protect Australian internet users against threats ranging from identity theft to full scale assault on the nation’s information systems.
“Our Cyber Security Strategy details Australian Government arrangements to defend economic institutions, critical infrastructure, government agencies, businesses and home users from cyber threats,” the Attorney General, Mr Robert McClelland, said.
“CERT Australia will work with other national CERTs around the world, the IT industry and Australian internet service providers to help network operators to identify and respond to cyber security incidents.”
The new team will work with the Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) set up as part of the Defence White Paper earlier in the year.
It will also work with the existing organisation AusCERT, the independent, not-for-profit cyber security organisation based at The University of Queensland.
As part of the recommendations of last year’s E-Security Review, the Federal Government said it would allocate more than $100 million over thenext four years to protect the nation’s cyber borders.
Some $8.8 million of this was allocated in May this year to the establishment of CERT Australia.
“The Cyber Security Operations Centre provides the Australian Government with cyber situational awareness and the ability to facilitate operational responses to cyber security incidents of national importance,” the Minister for Defence, Senator John Faulkner, said.
He said the Strategy also emphasises the importance of providing everyday Internet users with cyber security information and tools to help protect their identities, privacy and finances online.
To this end, a new identity theft information booklet, Protecting Your Identity, was also launched alongside CERT Australia.
The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, welcomed the new cyber security strategy.
“Ensuring consumers and businesses have confidence in online systems will be essential for Australia to reap the full benefits of the digital economy,” Senator Conroy said.
“This strategy will help to make sure that people understand the simple things they can do to stay smart online and become empowered participants in the online environment.”
Learn more about online security at the CeBIT Security World Exhibition.
Learn more about public sector ICT solutions at CeBIT’s Government Technology Expo.
Page Tags
Recent Government News
-
Government 2.0 Taskforce Head, Nicholas Gruen, Offers Impressions on Current Adoption of Gov 2.0 Principles
1 Sep 2010 Nicholas Gruen, head of the Gov 2.0 Taskforce and co-author of the Taskforce Report, has commented on the use of Gov 2.0 principles in political debate during a discussion with Computerworld recently. Mr Gruen noted that this was not an official analysis, but rather general impressions he provided over a casual lunch to Computerworld on a selection of... read more
-
Public Sector Should Consider Cloud Computing to Balance Pressures of Cost & Performance, says IDC Report
30 Aug 2010 According to a recently released report from IDC Government Insights, public sector agencies in the Asia Pacific region can put themselves in a better place to meet productivity and performance targets, while managing budget scrutiny, by exploring cloud computing options. The IDC report explains that the traditional data centre is no longer a sustainable... read more
-
Australian Bureau of Statistics adopts Web 2.0 Tools for Better Internal Engagement & Productivity
26 Aug 2010 The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has announced they are rolling out a suite of web 2.0 technologies, including blogs, wikis and collaborative documents, designed for usage across the organisation as an internal engagement tool. The tools will enable ABS employees to better connect and interact with each other and could be one of the largest... read more
-
Gov2.0 Speaker Q&A: Steve Davies, OZloop
20 Jul 2010 1. What action do you think government departments will have to take in order to make the Declaration of Open Government happen? I don't see how anything will change. Gov 2.0 means open data, transparency and greater authentic engagement with the community. The expectation is out there and everyone is grappling with it. 2. How can Gov 2.0 be... read more
-
Federal Government declares open government
19 Jul 2010 Following through on the recommendations made in the Government 2.0 Taskforce's report, outgoing Finance Minister, Lindsay Tanner has released a declaration of open government. The Declaration officially commits the Australian Government to open government based on a “culture of engagement, built on better access to and use of government held... read more
Follow CeBIT Australia on your favourite social network...
News
Updates
Networking
Images
Videos
Bookmarks