The Australian government has announced plans to review its cyber-security strategy in an attempt to better protect networks from cyber attacks.
The review is expected to explore how industry and the government can work together to make the country’s online systems more resilient against attacks.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet will lead the Cyber Security Review assisted by a panel of experts, including the CEO of the Business Council of Australia, Jennifer Westacott; Chief Security and Trust Officer at Cisco Systems in the United States, John Stewart; Mike Burgess, Chief Information Security Officer at Telstra, and Dr. Tobias Feakin, Director of the International Cyber Policy Centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
The Prime Minister’s office said in a news release that by 2017, more than nine out of 10 Australians will be routinely online and Australian businesses and consumers benefit from the opportunities an interconnected world delivers.
There are, however, risks and like any other country, Australia faces real and growing cyber threats.
The Australian Signals Directorate said last year it responded to 940 cyber incidents involving government agencies, a 37% increase on the previous year.
The risks are also very real for the private sector. The direct cost of cyber-crime to Australia in the past 12 months is estimated to be more than $1 billion.
Meanwhile, the Australian Cyber Security Centre opened in Canberra also this week. It brings together the operational agencies that help secure cyberspace into one location: the Australian Crime Commission, the Australian Federal Police, the cyber elements of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), the Australian Signals Directorate and the Attorney-General’s Department Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Australia.