The Department of Housing and Public Works has posted an entry on its Digital on Toast program informing Departments and Agencies of the importance of cyber-security and the availability of training and other resources for developing capabilities across Government.
The Digital on Toast paper said information technology continued to transform how the citizens of Queensland experienced the Department’s services — “with this comes the threat of cyber-crime and information theft”.
“In fact, cyber-crime is predicted to cost the world’s economy trillions of dollars within the next decade. In Australia, the current annual loss is already estimated at billions of dollars,” the paper said.
“The increase in cyber-crime presents a great opportunity for the Australian cyber- security sector, which currently employs 26,500 workers.”
It said the Australian Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan indicates that an additional 7,000 jobs would be needed.
It pointed out that the public sector was the custodian of the data it collected while delivering services to its customers.
“Cyber-security is now crucial to ensure patient privacy, safety and improved decision-making … citizens and businesses expect their sensitive information and identities to be protected,” the paper said
“Government has a responsibility to provide technology system design, policies, practices, and standards that protect and preserve customer data.”
It said that to do this the Government was committed to building cyber capability across Government and providing relevant training opportunities to meet internal demand for cyber skills.
“A range of cyber-security training and learning opportunities are being developed to suit all levels of expertise; visit the Digital Capability and Training Page on our website to learn more,” the paper said.
The paper can be accessed on the forgov website at this PS News link.
