ASIO reveals new cyber-security guard

Thursday, 10 March 2011 14:08

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

In an excerpt from his speech released this afternoon, McClelland said cyber-security continued to be at the forefront of the Government's agenda. He said while cyber-intrusion was a distinct method of accessing private information and disrupting critical systems, it was also a 'people problem' '” as individuals hack computers.

He said the modern world posed new cyber-threats for governments and that therefore new instruments were needed. 'For this reason, ASIO has also established a specialist cyber investigations unit to investigate and provide advice on state-sponsored cyber attack against, or involving, Australian interests,' he said in the excerpt.

The Labor politician said the new threats required cooperation among agencies, citing the fact that Australia's national computer emergency response team (CERT) was already operating along with other Government agencies as well as a network of international partners to improve Australia's cyber-security.

'CERT Australia works closely with the Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC), based within the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), which focuses on identifying and responding to cyber-incidents of national significance,' he said. 'ASIO is also working to guard against foreign interference and espionage, including via technical means.'

McClelland reiterated this network of cooperation was crucial to tackle the threats of those using the internet as a modern tool of espionage which '” he said '” could facilitate access to large volumes of sensitive government and commercial information. 'ASIO's close co-operation with CERT Australia and the CSOC seeks to identify developing threats and determine appropriate responses,' he said.