http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/file-breach-prompts-call-for-inquiry/2005/08/08/1123353263586.html By Mathew Murphy August 9, 2005 An industry group has called for a public inquiry into the way confidential information is handled, saying the disclosure of hundreds of police files by the Office of Police Integrity is just the "tip of the iceberg". The Australian Computer Society said computer security was the missing link in the debate surrounding increased national security. It said it was "frighteningly easy" to obtain information. Karl Reed, from the society's Victorian branch, said an inquiry should look at who had access to confidential information and how it was distributed. "We have sat and watched these things happen for 18 months now," he said, "so this problem doesn't just exist (in the OPI). It exists in a number of organisations. Let's do something, as we would in another public infrastructure failure, to see both what actually went wrong and what is the best practice for fixing it." Mr Reed, an associate professor in computer science at La Trobe University, said information technology graduates across the country had next to no knowledge about handling secure information. He said training needed to be part of tertiary courses and certification. "We also need the creation of a major research centre that would focus on the issues of privacy and security in a modern technological society," he said. ACS national president Edward Mandla said technological security needed to be tightened and a move must be made towards stopping computer users giving away their user names and passwords too freely. _________________________________________ Attend ToorCon Sept 16-18th, 2005 Convention Center San Diego, California www.toorcon.org
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