[LINK] itN: $10m available for small bus cyber security testing

[Roger Clarke]

[More tokenism.

[Testing for the presence of vulnerabilities will reach the conclusion 
that all systems are vulnerable.

[But we knew that already.

[So, like Data Breach Notification, this is pseudo-measure.

[Its purpose is to provide a Minister with an announceable, and with 
camouflage to hide the absence of useful action.

[Note too that it's a 2-1/2-year-old commitment that they'd apparently 
forgotten about until someone did some pre-election desk-tidying.]


Govt tries to plug small business systems security holes with cash
$10m available for cyber security testing.
Justin Hendry
itNews
Dec 3 2018
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/govt-tries-to-plug-small-business-systems-security-holes-with-cash-516406

Small businesses across Australia are set to benefit from a new 
government grant aimed at hardening the community's cyber security posture.

The federal government opened the $10 million grant initiative today, 
meeting a requirement in the 2016 cyber security strategy to help 
businesses secure their digital assets.

It is aimed at ensuring an adequate level of cyber security to avoid a 
situation where small business become “the soft underbelly or back door 
into connected organisations”, the strategy states.

The grant will provide up to $2100 for small businesses to have their 
cyber security tested by a Council of Registered Ethical Security 
Testers Australia New Zealand (CREST ANZ) approved provider.

It will allow business with 19 or fewer full-time equivalent employees 
to understand potential cyber security vulnerabilities and areas that 
need attention.

However only up to 50 percent of the cost of a “micro, small or standard 
certified small business check” is covered by the grant.

The grant is part of the government’s wider cyber security small 
business program, which also provides funding to CREST ANZ to improve 
its ability to assist small business with cyber security.

Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said 
thousands of Australian small businesses would stand to benefit from the 
funding.

She said with small businesses the “backbone” of the Australian economy, 
having “confidence in the security of data is vital both to businesses 
and their customers”.

The grant will close 30 June 2020.


-- 
Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University