- Telstra CEO and committee chair Andy Penn states that Australia is facing “a complex and layered cybercrime environment” that targets anyone and everyone.
- According to Penn, there has been notable progress since the strategy launched almost a year before, and Australian businesses have been improving their cyber resilience.
- In light of the need for increased cybersecurity, Penn says that he isn’t concerned about a proposed power allowing the federal government to intervene directly in order to protect the private sector’s infrastructure from cyber attacks.
Last year, the Australian Government established the Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee as part of the national cybersecurity strategy, drawing a panel that provided industry input to help develop the strategy. In a recent address, Telstra CEO and committee chair Andy Penn states that Australia is facing “a complex and layered cybercrime environment” that targets anyone and everyone, no matter the size of their business; because of this, Penn adds, “the threat landscape is continuing to evolve and worsen.”
According to Penn, there has been notable progress since the strategy launched almost a year before, and Australian businesses have been improving their cyber resilience. However, the committee has noticed that many businesses are still vulnerable, and there are some areas that call for added focus. These include awareness-raising, improving cybersecurity literacy and training for the workforce, active threat sharing across industry and government through the Joint Cyber Security Centres, and support for businesses in preparing for ransomware attacks.
In light of the need for increased cybersecurity, Penn says that he isn’t concerned about a proposed power allowing the federal government to intervene directly in order to protect the private sector’s infrastructure from cyber attacks. He adds, though, that the right framework to support this kind of intervention should be developed first.
To better illustrate his point, Penn paints a hypothetical picture of one of Australia’s ports being under a physical attack from a hostile other nation and the attack involving jet fighters. In that case, no one would question the Australian Air Force going in to protect the port, whether it’s government-owned or privately owned.
“We obviously need a mechanism whereby the government and government agencies, which are skilled in, obviously, cyber defences and cyber warfare, to be able to work alongside operators of critical infrastructure, to enable them to protect the national interest and protect national security,” the CEO adds.
That mechanism, however, would have implications for operators, such as liability for customers if there’s a service disruption because of the cyberattack and subsequent defensive actions taken. Protection of customer data is another issue that’s bound to be affected. “That’s what we need to work through to create a framework and an environment where government assistance can be effectively deployed where it’s necessary to, from a critical national security point of view,” Penn adds.
The bottom line, the CEO says, is that nobody knows better how to run a telecommunications network than those in telecommunications. However, they’re not necessarily experts when it comes to cyber activity and cybersecurity. That’s why it’s important that both parties - telecommunications infrastructure operators or providers and the government - work together to figure out an adequate response to cyber attacks. That way, they can make sure to protect the country, both in the physical and the cyber realm.
For more information, contact CBB at 1300 106 571.
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