[ISN] Bid to Raise Computer Security

From: InfoSec News (isnat_private)
Date: Thu Sep 19 2002 - 02:47:41 PDT

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    Forwarded from: Jamie Gillespie <jamieat_private>
    
    http://afr.com/it/2002/09/17/FFXPNOW956D.html
    
    By Rachel Lebihan
    Australian Financial Review
    Sept 17, 2002
    
    The Federal Government is planning to bolster its security efforts by
    taking a whole-of-government membership of Australia's computer
    emergency response team, AusCERT.
    
    The chief executive of the National Office for the Information
    Economy, John Rimmer, last week said an agreement with AusCERT was
    likely and a decision would be made by year's end.
    
    The proposal is another vote of confidence in AusCERT, an arm of the
    University of Queensland which issues alerts and advisories to members
    regarding security vulnerabilities and attacks.
    
    It also comes at a time when the industry is tracking an increasing
    number of sophisticated virus attacks. The Commonwealth Scientific &
    Industrial Research Organisation, which has 60 email servers around
    the country, said it intercepts around 1000 viruses a week at its
    email gateway.
    
    In one two-day period earlier this year, CSIRO tracked 20 million
    attempted virus attacks.
    
    "If we look back over the last two years, we can see that the issue of
    e-security for Commonwealth agencies has not gone away," Mr Rimmer
    told a security conference in Canberra.
    
    Mr Rimmer noted that the most recent report on internet security by
    the Australian National Audit Office found the current level of
    internet security insufficient.
    
    An agreement with AusCERT would give federal government agencies
    access to information that is more general than the system of alerts
    distributed by the Defence Signals Directorate, he said.
    
    "At a Federal Government level, DSD will remain central to our early
    warning alerts and advisory scheme for federal government agencies
    reports," he said.
    
    NOIE's general manager of regulatory issues, Tom Dale, said AusCERT
    would give federal agencies general resources, allowing DSD to focus
    more on critical and national issues at the high end of the scale.
    
    Mr Dale said there were a number of things that need to be negotiated
    with AusCERT, including cost and arrangements to ensure its services
    didn't cross over with those of DSD.
    
    With a number of federal agencies already AusCERT members, Mr Dale
    stressed that a whole-of-government agreement would be a more
    cost-effective arrangement.
    
    AusCERT general manager Graham Ingram confirmed he was in negotiations
    with the Federal Government, which will be the organisation's largest
    client if the deal goes ahead.
    
    Mr Ingram pointed out, however, that proposed funding from the
    Attorney-General's Department for an early warning security scheme for
    the Australian public would be a larger commitment by government to
    AusCERT.
    
    Mr Rimmer said that the early warning scheme, the National Information
    Security Advice Scheme, will assist in facilitating security awareness
    and behavioural change amongst Australian businesses.
    
    "It is expected that the enhanced early warning system will be
    targetted towards those companies who currently have very limited
    knowledge and resources about how to manage and make changes to
    protect their networks. This includes small to medium-sized
    enterprises but also many medium-sized companies that are part of
    Australia's national information infrastructure," Mr Rimmer said.
    
    The Attorney-General's Department said funding for the scheme was
    still being negotiated.
    
    
    
    
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