Australian prime minister Tony Abbott today announced a new review into the country’s cyber-security strategy – the first since 2008.
Set to report within six months, the review will look at practical ways to improve the nation’s online defenses and cyber-security in the e-commerce space, according to an official notice.
It will assess the risk of attack in public and private sectors; examine ways for government and industry to co-operate better; assess specifically how the government protects its information; and recommend ways to improve CNI security.
The report is also set to feed into a broader national security review currently underway.
The panel of experts undertaking the review will include CEO of the Business Council of Australia, Jennifer Westacott; Cisco chief security and trust officer, John Stewart; Telstra CISO, Mike Burgess; and Tobias Feakin, director of the International Cyber Policy Centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
According to the government, intelligence agency the Australian Signals Directorate responded to 940 incidents involving government agencies in 2013, up 37% from the previous year.
It added that the “direct cost of cybercrime” to the country over the past year is estimated at over $1bn.
Also today, the Australian Cyber Security Centre opened in Canberra, promising to help the country’s “security agencies” respond more quickly and effectively to cyber threats.
It will bring together key elements from several related agencies: the Australian Crime Commission; the Australian Federal Police; the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO); the Australian Signals Directorate; and Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Australia.
The previous Labor government intended to launch a cyber-security review back in 2012 but it was dropped as political attention focused instead on digital economy issues.
The nation is certainly playing catch-up on the international stage.
The Obama administration has put cyber-security at the center of it priorities, with an executive order issued last year to improve critical infrastructure security.
That was followed earlier this year with the launch of a Cybersecurity Framework.
In the UK, meanwhile, the coalition government launched its £650m Cyber Security Strategy back in 2011.