Published on the 22/04/2016 | Written by Beverley Head
The Federal Government has unveiled its cyber security strategy which features 33 new initiatives at a cost of $230 million over the next four years…
Citing international estimates that cybercrime could cost the nation as much as one percent of GDP, the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, noted that “we cannot allow cyberspace to become a lawless domain”.
Without action there was a risk that cyber criminals could impact both the nation’s digital economy, and also organisations’ ability to transform into more digital businesses according to the report, not to mention the impact on citizens of issues such as identity theft.
As part of the strategy Australia will appoint a “cyber ambassador” to champion international collaboration around the issue of cyber security; designate a minister to advise the prime minister on cyber security; and, appoint a full time cyber security advisor to his department.
The Government has also signalled its intent to support cyber security start-ups and work with universities to address the security skills gap identified in the nation.
For enterprises, one of the key recommendations of the report is that leading listed organisations offer themselves up for a voluntary cyber health check to determine the risks they face and their preparedness to respond. Over time this could be extended to smaller companies.
The Government has also announced plans to increase the capacity of CERT – the computer emergency response team – which is the first responder agency for private companies which are attacked.
However the mandatory data breach notification legislation seems set to be marooned by the anticipated early election slated for July, and is unlikely to be passed in the near term. It means that although business is being encouraged to boost and test its computer security measures on the one hand, it won’t yet be required to tell consumers if their data is compromised.
But security and trust are two sides of the same coin.
Jane Livesey, Accenture Technology managing director, says that the issue of trust is a growing concern for companies and that regulators have been “somewhat falling behind”.
Accenture recently polled global executives, including more than 300 Australian leaders, about their priorities as they transformed into digital enterprises. According to Livesey; “More than 83 percent of respondents felt that (trust) was one of the most important issues that they needed to grapple with.”
While in previous years executives’ focus has been more around security and privacy of data, it was now the trust that surrounds the use of that data that was proving a concern, she said.
It’s not just corporates with a trust issue. A survey released this week by the Centre for International Governance Innovation found that 83 percent of citizens polled across 24 countries believed that there needed to be new rules about exactly how organisations could use their personal data. Fewer than a third believed that private companies or governments were doing enough to properly protect their data according to the research which was conducted by Ipsos.
Accenture’s research suggests that corporates understand this emerging trust gap and the need to plug it.
Why? Because, Livesey said; “Organisations with trusted relationships can take products and services out much faster.”
