Queensland to establish Cyber Security Unit

The Queensland government will set aside $12.5 million to fund a specialised Cyber Security Unit that will sit inside the state’s Government Chief Information Office.

The whole-of-government unit will help meet the security challenges of state agencies and provide advice to the government.

“Agencies will remain responsible for their information security and the central cyber security team will provide support and guidance as well as leadership,” Queensland government CIO Andrew Mills said in a statement.

“A safeguard is needed to continue the protection of the government’s data and systems into the future because we are not immune to this sort of crime. In fact, governments globally are often a target for perpetrators,” the state’s minister for innovation, science and the digital economy, Leeanne Enoch, said in a statement.

“We want to protect against future cyber-attacks of government systems and data, provide leadership and support to agencies and strengthen their capability to respond to potential security threats,” Enoch said.

“The establishment of the Cyber Security Unit will enhance our existing efforts, while allowing for greater monitoring of future trends in cybercrime from around the world.

“These are not necessarily criminals from our own backyard, potential threats could come from anywhere in the world and we need to understand these threats as they arise.”

The federal government is yet to release its delayed cyber-security review (the review was originally expected to be released in mid-2015)

The government’s $1.1 billion ‘National Innovation and Science Agenda’ included $30 million for establishing an industry-led ‘Cyber Security Growth Centre’.

The centre is due to be operational in by mid-2016.