According to the announcement
made by the Attorney-General for Australia, the launching of the new Perth Joint Cyber Security
Centre (JCSC) will offer critical support to the west’s vast energy
and resource sector.
In line with the Turnbull Government’s
commitment to keeping Australians safe from cyber-attacks, the Perth JCSC is
being launched as the first of its kind in the west.
The new Perth centre is a part of the
Turnbull Government's A$ 47 million JCSC program. The centre was launched by
the Attorney-General the Hon Christian Porter MP and will offer critical
support to Australia's business community, particularly the west's vast energy
and resource sector.
The Attorney-General said, “The resources
that come from Western Australia are the lifeblood of the economy and represent
a significant portion of our gross domestic product.”
He added, “If a cyber-attack were to affect
one of our major resource corporations, there could be significant impacts to
Australia.”
He explained, “The JCSC is a critical hub
for business and government to improve their cyber security practices and share
information in a trusted and secure environment.”
The centre was designed collaboration with
significant industry partners. It will bring together cyber security experts
from different sectors that include mining, agriculture, natural resources, the
defence industry and infrastructure.
These experts are tasked to share
information on the latest cyber threats and security challenges. They would
also be concentrating on supporting Australia’s national cyber security
capabilities.
The Attorney-General said, “The Perth Joint
Cyber Security Centre represents an important milestone in expanding our
national cyber security footprint.”
He added, “In a state where the tyranny of
distance means business is often conducted from remote and isolated locations,
the need to protect our business networks is even more crucial.”
He explained, “Cyber security threats are
always evolving, so we need to ensure we have a whole range of strategies in
place to protect our digital borders and be on the offensive against
cyber-attacks. This centre will play a key role for government and industry to
work together towards this critical objective.”
The Government’s 2016 Cyber Security
Strategy is funding the Joint Cyber Security Centres (JCSC), which are all a
part of the Australian
Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).
The ACSC is the Australian Government’s
lead agency on national cyber security. It brings together cyber security
capabilities from across the Australian Government to improve the cyber
resilience of the Australian community and support the economic and social
prosperity of Australia in the digital age.
The Joint Cyber Security Centre (JCSC)
program is a partnership between business, government, academia and other key
partners to enhance collaboration on cyber security.
The Perth JCSC is the fourth state based
centre to open, joining Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Another centre in
Adelaide will open later this year.
The centre will be holding a series of
workshops and events throughout the rest of 2018 to address strategic and
technical issues within the cyber space.
An earlier announcement was released
highlighting the launch of the Sydney Joint Cyber Security Centre on 21 March
2018.