In December 2021, the Australian Commonwealth released the inaugural Australian Data Strategy & Action Plan.

The implementation of the Strategy & Action Plan ties closely to the existing Commonwealth Cyber Security Strategy.

Complying with cybersecurity standards and regulations is becoming increasingly important to both public and private organisations. With the future continually growing toward cyber-central workplaces, now is more important than ever to ensure cyber security best practices.

In implementing these new plans, organisations must be able to demonstrate their critical infrastructure and data protection systems, and their crisis response strategy in the event of an attack. Businesses will need to know when it must signal a privacy breach to those whose data has been infringed and the Australian Information Commissioner.

An increase in cases of ransomware attacks around Australia, and continued data theft has continued to grow concern resulting in the new legislation. This legislation will legally require organisations to report any ransomware payments made, or any attacks on their organisation to the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

This is combined with Commonwealth legislation expanding the list of critical industries that need to report cyber breaches in November 2021. Industries required to report include communications, data storage, food, and transport – with these breaches needing to directly be reported to the Australian Signals Directorate.

In late 2021, a cyber-attack in South Australia breached the personal details of 80,000 South Australian Government employees. The incident offered a wake-up call for any business to maintain best cyber security practices.

It is more important than ever for businesses to ensure they devote the necessary time and resources into understanding, managing, and implementing cyber security solutions to protect critical infrastructure.

Protecting your critical infrastructure is a vital mitigation strategy to avoid commercial, legal, or reputational damage of cyber-attacks. emt Distribution works with partners throughout the APAC region to address our mutual client’s data-driven compliance needs. Call us on +61 8 8273 3030 or request a demo of any of our product range at: https://www.emtdist.com/demos-by-emt/