Friday, November 25, 2016

Cyber Bootcamp for Australian Government Ministers

Alastair MacGibbon, Special Adviser to the Australian Prime Minister on Cyber Security has said senior government executives and Ministers should be set to “Cyber Bootcamp”. This is one of the recommendations in "Review of the Events Surrounding the2016 eCensus". This is a report on the successful denial of service attack on the 2016 Australian Census website, in August 2016.

The government downplayed the significance of the incident by describing it as a "truck across the driveway", just preventing access but doing no other damage. However, continuing the analogy, the truck may be filled with armed terrorists, or a very large bomb. On Wednesday, Dan Tehan MP, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Cyber Security outlined a scenario where a virus introduced to critical systems shuts down the electricity grid, causing widespread deaths and injury.

Summary of Recommendations
  • Crisis Communications and Coordination ...
  • Education: The Attorney-General’s Department should develop a “Cyber Bootcamp”
  • Security Framework: The Australian Signals Directorate should strengthen the framework...
  •  Embracing Adaptive Government...
  • Cyber Security in a Digital First World
  • The ABS should engage an independent security consultant ...
  • The ABS should ensure future significant changes to personal information handling ...
  • The ABS should adopt a privacy management plan ...
  • The ABS should assess and enhance existing ABS privacy training for staff.
  • The ABS should develop a specific strategy to remove the current state of vendor lock-in.
  • Agencies should review their approach to cyber security incident response planning and coordination ...
  • Agencies should ensure independent security assessments are conducted on critical ICT deliverables.
  • Agencies should test security measures and monitoring systems for online government services ...
  • Agencies should be conscious of updated interpretations of governing legislation ...
  • The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has recommended the government develop an APS-wide Privacy Code in collaboration with the Office. ...

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