Earlier this week, Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop unveiled the new International Cyber Engagement Strategy (ICES). The details of the document are interesting but it sends an important signal to businesses. Cybersecurity is not a technical challenge. It’s a challenge that permeates almost everything we do as a nation, at work and in our personal lives.
Over the the last couple of years, the government has made available significant funding to support the national cyber security strategy. There have been high-level appointments with several prominent private sector people lured into the government fold.
ICES (did anyone realise the acronym sounds a lot like ISIS?) covers several critical areas including online democracy, international security, trade and governance.
It’s fair to say elements of the current government’s technology policy have been poorly received and executed. The NBN and the governemtn’s attitude towards encrypted communications are controversial to say the least. But one area I think they are doing well at is cyber security.
This strategy is backed with an allocation of $10M and signals that there’s someone in Canberra who secure technology will be critical to our national security and international commerce.
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