30 April 2015

Editorial: Australia - National Security Innovation Priorities

By Greg Austin

How much should Canberra invest in cyber security, including S&T innovation?

As Australia prepares the next iteration of its national cyber security strategy, one of the questions it must grapple with is the role of domestic innovation, including the national science and technology (S&T) base in information technology. The challenge is compounded by many factors, not least the globalized (non-national) character of the underlying information and communications technologies (ICT). Australia is a rich developed country, and a member of the G20, but it is tiny in size and relatively lacking in venture capital.

The Cyber Threat

In May 2014, the country’s Defense Science and Technology Organization (DSTO), part of the Department of Defense, published a study, Future Cyber Security Landscape. DSTO is not the lead agency for cyber security, but its threat analysis in this document probably cannot be faulted. It highlights the following:
  • “Attacks will become more opportunistic and difficult to detect or predict”
  • “Threats will become more potent”
  • “Effects or outcomes of attacks will …. have longer term flow on effects”
  • “There will be a move from code exploitation to manipulation of data … and the introduction of systemic effects”
  • security will continue to lag behind the technological potential of attackers and emerging vulnerabilities.
This is a very bleak picture.

Read the full story at The Diplomat