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Other popular themes at the conference included the threat updates and security intelligence
briefings with revelations about the latest cyber-criminal activities such as crimeware, and the
extraordinary effectiveness of ransomware-as-a-service.

Momentum from Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy
Along with international guests bringing knowledge from around the globe, many of the
speakers were from local Australian organizations reinforcing initiatives that were introduced in
Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy first announced in 2016.Like other countries around the
world, Australia’s cyber strategy aims to foster better relationships between the private and
public sectors for the betterment of national sovereignty, and encourages building a cyber
capability to protect and underpin future economic prosperity.

Mr. Craig Davies, CEO of the newly formed Australian Cyber Security Growth Network
(ACSGN) spoke at the conference about the upcoming tasks that his rapidly expanding team
will be delivering across the nation. The ACSGN is an industry-led not-for-profit company
created directly because of Australia’s cyber strategy.

The ACSGN is a unique example of how
governments can truly support the cyber
industry, and according to Davies, “We’re the
first organization, and we think we’re probably
the only organization, in the world chartered
by government to create an industry”. As
such his group aims to lead the industry
collaboration, accelerate commercialization of
cybersecurity firms, address the cyber-skills
shortage, and pursue policy reforms.

Meet Australia’s “Cyber Roo”
We do love our wildlife in Australia, and I had the privilege of interviewing Cyber Roo – arguably
one of Australia’s cutest and most inflatable cyber security ambassadors!

This globe hopping Kangaroo recently made it all the way to San Francisco as part of an
Australian Trade Cyber Mission that highlighted and promoted the capabilities of leading
Australian cyber security firms, including Sense of Security. The Boxing Kangaroo is a national
symbol of Australia and dates back to at least 1891. I like to think the Kangaroo’s natural
defense stance, which represents that of a boxer, is ideal for the metaphor of cyber defense in
its most natural and powerful form!

Australia’s #CensusFail Investigation Deepens
At the conference, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) also revealed they were closing in on the
perpetrators of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that formed part of what has since
been called Australia’s #CensusFail; relating to an incident that occurred on 9 August 2016.

Every five years the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts a population “census” consisting of
a detailed survey of all Australian citizens with data collected then used by the government to

13 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – March 2017 Edition
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