[LINK] New Australian National Security Strategy Emphasizes Cyybersecurity

Tom Worthington tom.worthington at tomw.net.au
Thu Jan 24 11:48:29 AEDT 2013


The Prime Minister launched "Strong and Secure: A Strategy for 
Australia’s National Security" at the Australian National University in 
Canberra, on 23 January 2013: 
http://www.dpmc.gov.au/national_security/national-security-strategy.cfm

The 58 page document is available as a 3.4 Mbyte PDF file and RTF 
1.37MB. Also available are a media release and the text of the PM's 
speech "Australia's National Security Beyond the 9/11 Decade".

In the list of key national security risks, "Malicious cyber activity" 
is placed third, ahead of the proliferation of weapons of mass 
destruction. The PM also mentioned that an "Australian Cyber Security 
Centre" would be separately announced.

The policy document also mentions as a priority "Integrated cyber policy 
and operations to enhance the defence of our digital networks". This 
would be a welcome change in the government's current approach, which is 
to announce cyber-security strategies, such as the Cyber Security White 
paper, and then  not properly resource and implement them. Also the 
approach has been fragmented, with different government agencies having 
separate uncoordinated initiatives and not involving the private sector, 
or state governments.

The Australian Defence Department officially opened its Cyber Security 
Operations Centre (CSOC) at the Defence Signals Directorate in Canberra 
on 15 Januar 2010. Unfortunately the government chose not to support the 
non-government AusCERT, leaving the private sector open to attack.

Some excerpts from the "Strong and Secure: A Strategy for Australia’s 
National Security" document in my blog: 
http://blog.tomw.net.au/2013/01/australian-national-security-strategy.html


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards
Legislation

Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science,
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/



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