Telstra opens security site

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TELSTRA will today open the doors on a multi-million-dollar security operations centre constructed to provide the telco's corporate customers with new managed security services.

The 1300sq m premises, at a secret location in Canberra, will specialise in identifying, blocking and quarantining attacks that threaten to infiltrate the networks of Telstra's enterprise and government customers.

Telstra enterprise and government executive director Paul McManus said the ASIO T4-accredited SOC was constructed to meet demand from enterprise and government customers that were increasingly seeking more secure network services.

"There is growing demand from both our enterprise and government customers for managed security services from Telstra," Mr McManus said.

"By adding the SOC to our existing network-monitoring facilities, the global operations centre and the managed network operations centre, the new facility complements Telstra's existing network monitoring expertise and facilities.

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"The penalties for failure to fully secure networks have escalated from reputational damage to loss of customer or personal data, and even criminal liability."

Telstra network enterprise services executive director Gavan Corcoran said the centre would initially employ 40 security staff but had the capacity to grow to 100. All staff must be accredited, at minimum, to a national security level of highly protected to work in the centre.

"We are certified to ISO 27001 so that our customers are confident to do business with us so they know their data and systems are well protected," Mr Corcoran said.

ISO 27001 is an international standard and security certification that brings information security under management control.

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Cyber Security Operations Centre operational but details lacking

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Trevor Clarke  23 November, 2009 17:29

Tags: Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC)

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Australia's Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC), announced earlier this year as part of the first Defence White Paper in a decade, has already reached some operational capability.

An acute lack of information on the offensive capabilities being developed by the CSOC, however, and little clarity around its governance or oversight mechanisms, has sparked calls from academics and information security analysts for greater public debate and disclosure.

The CSOC is located within the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), staffed by Defence force and Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) personnel to coordinate responses to cyber threats.

At the time of its announcement the then Minister for Defence, Joel Fitzgibbon, described the move as a "major new investment".

Fitzgibbon cited a Defence White Paper, which was released in May 2009.

“While this capability will reside within Defence and be available to provide cyber warfare support to ADF [Australian Defence Forces] operations, it will be purpose-designed to serve broader national security goals. This includes assisting responses to cyber incidents across government and critical private sector systems and infrastructure," the white paper reads.

It points to increased funding (without specifying amounts) and a greater focus on developing cyber warfare capabilities. To date, little has emerged on the kind of offensive capabilities created or the legal mechanisms in place or under consideration to ensure proper oversight. Yet several high profile cyber security events have taken place.

In early November, for example, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) confirmed that Internet-based attacks have been used by hostile intelligence services to gain confidential Australian Government and business information. Earlier in July, a botnet comprised of about 50,000 infected computers waged a war against US government Web sites and caused headaches for businesses in the US and South Korea.

More recently, the US has debated whether laws addressing cyber crime are adequate to address growing attacks on the government and businesses, and a much-publicised report by security vendor, McAfeeraised the question of whether governments are using botnets.

Despite what is acknowledged as a very real threat by information security experts to the country and the use of tax payer funds to create the CSOC, however, Defence remains tight-lipped, refusing to provide any information except to say the new centre will be officially launched in early 2010.

Gartner research director specialising in information security practices, Andrew Walls, said this approach is likely to create mistrust among the ultimate stakeholders in the CSOC, the public, and means the success of future risk messages may become diluted.

"What we are seeing happen across multiple jurisdictions and multiple governments is a growth in cynicism of the general population and constituents who are saying 'you talk to us about security all the time and all we see is hassle and alarmist advertising campaigns and we don’t see anything really happening — we don't see the damage, we don't see what you are talking about'," he said.

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ASIO's $606m spook-centre rises

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November 23, 2009 - 5:48PM

Construction of the new ASIO headquarters is moving into the next stage with cranes arriving on site to help construct the massive building.

Deep pits have already been dug on the site in the Canberra suburb of Russell that houses other defence and espionage facilities.

Asbestos removal from the site started earlier this month, with a request for an update on the asbestos removal project having been referred to the Department of Finance.

The cost of the building, which will also house the secretive Office of National Assessments, has recently blown out.

The total budgeted expenditure for the building will now be $606.2 million, compared with the $460 million announced in the 2006-07 budget measure," the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook said.

"This funding will provide a high quality, secure building designed and fitted out for the specialised needs of these intelligence agencies."

Alongside the building fund, the operating budget of ASIO is continuing to grow at pace.

Between 2008-09 and 2011-12 the agency's budget will balloon by $41.2 million, a pattern that first developed under the Howard government in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US.

AAP

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