back to article Australian government wants power to run cyber-response for businesses under attack

Australia’s government has proposed giving itself the power to take over private enterprises’ response to cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure. A new Consultation Paper titled Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Systems of National Significance [PDF] notes that critical infrastructure is vulnerable to cyber attack, that …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Does Dominic Cummings

    have an Australian cousin?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If you are a multinational company in Australia...

    Do you really want the Oz government stepping in to hack people back on your behalf? Perhaps people who are well-connected in countries where you are trying to expand your business?

  3. Tim99 Silver badge
    Big Brother

    Why aren’t I surprised?

    Peter Dutton’s department. That may tell us all we "need to know" >>===>

  4. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

    A Great Idea .......Not. The Evidence is Compelling and Overwhelming

    Y'all had better be hoping then any attack is not COVID-19like ..... given the utter hash governments have made with the exercise of draconian powers it grants itself against that quite extraordinarily successful national infrastructure threat/novel virus.

    And the worst effects of those government actions, some would tell you, are yet still to come and extant exclusive executive office systems of SCADA heritage and vintage are powerless to assist in avoiding the disasters.

    Would you agree with that simplistic assessment or do you know it will be different ? Pray tell what is missing and paint another viable picture easily to be believed and lived in. That's all anyone has to supply. IT aint difficult to change the future whenever one knows how and has what one needs to feed and seed, although missing that immaculate ingredient does have continual failure both practically and virtually guaranteed.

    Don't be coy. What do you think? Your very existence may very well depend upon actions discussed as necessary here ...... and I say that most sincerely, folks.

  5. Twanky

    'when an attack is detected “ …. Government be able to provide reasonable, proportionate and time-sensitive directions to entities to ensure action is taken to minimise its impact.”'

    Government

    Reasonable

    Proportionate

    Time-sensitive

    Since when? It sounds laudable but governments have a track record of being law-bound and slow. It takes time to turn the ship of state. When they take emergency actions they're usually found to be disproportionate and/or only partially informed.

    1. Chris G

      For government, read ASD, the Australian Signals Directorate, so after having a bunch of spooks 'mitigating' supposed threats in your systems you can expect at best for them to leave a back door for 'future protection'.

  6. big_D Silver badge
    Pint

    M.A.L.S.

    John for president!

  7. iron Silver badge

    > Government to use its enhanced threat picture and unique capabilities

    Does that include the Oz Gov's unique power to overrule the laws of Mathematics?

    1. Twanky
      Unhappy

      Sadly not unique.

  8. Denarius
    FAIL

    From the ministry most associated with Tech troglodytes

    Ah yes, the gummint that outsourced its own IT to foreigners so focused on cutting costs that patching slowed, software, hardware and OS became years out of date, jobs sent overseas. Yep call in experts, if there are any. Twanky described the rest of issues well. Another distraction from the creeping totalitarianism infesting the ruins of western civilisation

    1. Cliffwilliams44 Silver badge

      Re: From the ministry most associated with Tech troglodytes

      Like NORAD, you know, those nice people who control all the US ICBMs and their nuclear warheads. They were still using 8" floppy drives until 2019.

  9. EnviableOne

    NISR for AUS

    isnt this just the equivalent of The Network and Information Systems Regulations that just went into force in the UK

    based on the directive on security of network and information systems agreed by the EU

    so basically CNI are required to protect their systems and there is a structure for mutual, governmental and global aid in the event of an incident.

  10. Sanctimonious Prick
    FAIL

    Telstra

    So who gets hacked back the next time Telstra have a DDoS attack that isn't an attack, but rather a TITSUP (total inability to support usual performance)?

    1. julian.smith
      Facepalm

      Re: Telstra

      From the "Government" that is responsible for the dog's breakfast that is the NBN

      I'm sure that the Russians, the Chinese +++ are laughing until they wet their pants.

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