ISED watching Australian cyber security overhaul

The Canadian government is keeping an eye on how its Australian counterpart is handling security risks to the country’s telecom networks. “Canada can learn from Australia’s experience” in reforming its telecommunications security policies, said a February briefing note prepared for Innovation, Science and Economic Development deputy minister John Knubley, obtained by The Wire Report under Access to Information legislation. “We will monitor the next round of consultations for any change to the government’s directions or sustained opposition from stakeholders,” said the note prepared by senior assistant deputy minister Corinne Charette. Innovation Canada is one of the federal departments collaborating on a coming review of the country’s cyber security measures. Australia began looking at making changes to its telecom security rules in 2013, following a report on reforms of the country’s national security legislation. The last round of consultations on a proposed bill to change the rules wrapped in mid-January. “Currently, national security risks to the telecommunications sector are largely managed through informal cooperative arrangements with industry,” said an Australian government memo on the proposed legislation. “However, there are significant limitations to this approach. A voluntary or cooperative approach is only workable where companies are willing to prioritise national security or the public interest over the company’s commercial interests and duty to shareholders.” The Australian bill proposed expanding its attorney general’s authority to “monitor compliance with government security obligations and to issue directions that would require TSPs to take actions to manage security risks,” the briefing note said. Right now, the Australian attorney general has power to direct a service provider to stop “operating its service where the proposed or continued operation of that service is or would be, prejudicial to security,” the memo said. It added that the power “is an extreme measure and only appropriate for the most extreme national security risks given the potentially significant flow on consequences for the affected companies business, their companies and possibly the broader Australian economy” and has never been used. The memo said Australia wanted to create a formal framework to “encourage early engagement on proposed changes to networks and services that could give rise to a national security risk and collaboration on the management of those risks” and that the “regulatory objective is to achieve national security outcomes on a cooperative basis rather than through the formal exercise of regulatory powers.” The ISED briefing note highlighted industry feedback on the Australian framework that indicated the need to “leverage existing voluntary information sharing groups,” and said it “highlights the value of CSTAC which promotes information sharing to better secure critical telecom infrastructure through a voluntary approach.” A 2014 CSTAC report on best practices for Canadian telecom providers recommends a series of voluntary measures domestic providers can employ “in order to detect cyber security threats, thereby helping the service provider protect both its customers’ interests and its own infrastructure.” The report encourages service providers to participate in third-party working groups such as the North American Network Operators’ Group, Canadian Telecommunications Cyber Protection and the Microsoft Security Response Alliance because they “offer collaboration and information-sharing opportunities that significantly enhance an organization’s ability to prepare and to response to cyber security events.” — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

ISED watching Australian cyber security overhaul

News | August 9, 2016

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