4 years ago
GOVERNMENT’S INACTION IN THE FACE OF A ‘COMPUTER COVID-19’
TIM WATTS MP
A new report from AustCyber has confirmed Labor’s warnings that a widespread cyber security incident in Australia could cause systemic economic damage like that of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ‘Digital Trust Report’, released by AustCyber today, suggests that the increasing interconnectedness of the Australian economy means that a significant cyber incident could cost the nation $30 billion and an estimated loss of 163,000 jobs.
This stark warning comes as the Morrison Government is failing to provide the leadership needed to address the threat of cyber security incidents.
As Labor warned in its recent discussion paper, this isn’t just a job for our defence and security agencies. In an interconnected and interdependent economy, we can only confront this growing threat by building resilience throughout the nation, in businesses big and small and across all levels of government.
To do this requires leadership — but the first decision Scott Morrison made upon becoming Prime Minister was to abolish the dedicated ministerial role for cyber security.
It was a disastrous decision that has left cyber security policy politically orphaned.
AustCyber’s report highlights the importance of remedying this Prime Ministerial misjudgement and re-establishing a dedicated minister in the Government’s overdue Cyber Security Strategy.
None of the Morrison Government’s recent high-profile cyber security press conferences have delivered any practical action on these basic issues.
AustCyber’s report is another reminder that improving our cyber security culture is a major part of improving our national resilience in this historically unstable time.
The ‘Digital Trust Report’, released by AustCyber today, suggests that the increasing interconnectedness of the Australian economy means that a significant cyber incident could cost the nation $30 billion and an estimated loss of 163,000 jobs.
This stark warning comes as the Morrison Government is failing to provide the leadership needed to address the threat of cyber security incidents.
As Labor warned in its recent discussion paper, this isn’t just a job for our defence and security agencies. In an interconnected and interdependent economy, we can only confront this growing threat by building resilience throughout the nation, in businesses big and small and across all levels of government.
To do this requires leadership — but the first decision Scott Morrison made upon becoming Prime Minister was to abolish the dedicated ministerial role for cyber security.
It was a disastrous decision that has left cyber security policy politically orphaned.
AustCyber’s report highlights the importance of remedying this Prime Ministerial misjudgement and re-establishing a dedicated minister in the Government’s overdue Cyber Security Strategy.
None of the Morrison Government’s recent high-profile cyber security press conferences have delivered any practical action on these basic issues.
AustCyber’s report is another reminder that improving our cyber security culture is a major part of improving our national resilience in this historically unstable time.