[More tokenism.
[Testing for the presence of vulnerabilities will reach the conclusion
that all systems are vulnerable.
[But we knew that already.
[So, like Data Breach Notification, this is pseudo-measure.
[Its purpose is to provide a Minister with an announceable, and with
camouflage to hide the absence of useful action.
[Note too that it's a 2-1/2-year-old commitment that they'd apparently
forgotten about until someone did some pre-election desk-tidying.]
Govt tries to plug small business systems security holes with cash
$10m available for cyber security testing.
Justin Hendry
itNews
Dec 3 2018
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/govt-tries-to-plug-small-business-systems-security-holes-with-cash-516406
Small businesses across Australia are set to benefit from a new
government grant aimed at hardening the community's cyber security posture.
The federal government opened the $10 million grant initiative today,
meeting a requirement in the 2016 cyber security strategy to help
businesses secure their digital assets.
It is aimed at ensuring an adequate level of cyber security to avoid a
situation where small business become “the soft underbelly or back door
into connected organisations”, the strategy states.
The grant will provide up to $2100 for small businesses to have their
cyber security tested by a Council of Registered Ethical Security
Testers Australia New Zealand (CREST ANZ) approved provider.
It will allow business with 19 or fewer full-time equivalent employees
to understand potential cyber security vulnerabilities and areas that
need attention.
However only up to 50 percent of the cost of a “micro, small or standard
certified small business check” is covered by the grant.
The grant is part of the government’s wider cyber security small
business program, which also provides funding to CREST ANZ to improve
its ability to assist small business with cyber security.
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said
thousands of Australian small businesses would stand to benefit from the
funding.
She said with small businesses the “backbone” of the Australian economy,
having “confidence in the security of data is vital both to businesses
and their customers”.
The grant will close 30 June 2020.
--
Roger Clarke mailto:[email protected]
T: +61 2 6288 6916 http://www.xamax.com.au http://www.rogerclarke.com
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science Australian National University
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