The Australian Information Security Association (AISA) has drafted a formal submission to the Australian government’s Cyber White Paper which is due to be launched in 2012.
The White Paper, available from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s website, will look at how both the federal and state governments, businesses and consumers can make use of the National Broadband Network (NBN) while ensuring cyber security risks can be managed.
Speaking at the AISA Conference 2011 in Sydney, AISA Brisbane committee member ,Gary Gaskell, said its paper which will be submitted on 14 November, was based on 215 responses to a survey the Association recently conducted with members.
According to the results, 98 per cent of respondents indicated that online threats to Australia were set to increase while 86 per cent wrote that security skills were not integrated with the rest of the IT work force.
“Eighty-five per cent also said that mandatory data breach disclosure laws were needed, something the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) conducted research into with its report [For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice],” Gaskell said.
Three quarters of respondents added that privacy-based legislation was too narrow for information security needs while 60 per cent said that external stakeholders were not involved in security policies.
The survey also uncovered a few low lights for the industry.
Media coverage of compromises such as the Sony Playstation Network attacks was the main driver to improve security in the work place for 64 per cent of respondents.
In addition, only five per cent of members thought that Federal Government figures on cyber crime were accurate.
Gaskell said that AISA wanted to get as much feedback as possible from its member base before submitting its response.
A download of the draft paper is available for members on the Association's website.
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