Did cyber security concerns decide the NBN?
- 06 June, 2009 11:30
- Comments 6
I’m not one for conspiracy theories but I just can’t get the idea out of my head that the Federal Government’s decision to go it alone with the NBN was because of cyber security concerns. No, not because of China and Russia directly, but because it will help our own national security.
Consider these points:
Not long after the NBN announcement Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, used his keynote speech at the 2009 AusCert conference to explain that the implementation planning for the NBN would consider national security and identification security implications. “The security of the network is a top priority," he said at the time.
The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has also opened a tender to find a “consultant to develop an appropriate methodology and repeatable survey instruments for data collection over time, on the issues, solutions and priorities for action in regards to cyber-safety and e-security, as perceived by parents/guardians and teachers”. Conroy also kicked off National E-security Awareness Week on Friday.
More notably, in the defence whitepaper, which came out just after KRudd’s decision, we found out that the Australian Defence Forces (ADF) will be getting better networked systems. According to a written response from the ADF, the networks that will “support the development of a networked ADF will be a combination of national, Defence and Allied ICT infrastructure (inclusive of military and commercial satellite communications)”. In other words the NBN will be used by our armed forces.
The whitepaper also included significant focus on and funding towards combating cyber crime and outlined an initiative to establish a Cyber Security Operations Centre within the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) staffed by Defence Force and Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) personnel.
And we’ve also had the Australian Federal Police High Tech Crime Operations unit commence its search for a new chief cyber cop. It’s not directly related, but points to the level of seriousness the authorities are treating cyber crime.
So did the government decide to go it alone based on the threat posed by cyber criminals or terrorists?
My gut feeling is it did play a significant role in convincing the government to go it alone. It may have even been the deciding factor.
During the NBN tender process the Attorney’s General Department coordinated a national security assessment, including input from DSD.
The assessment was done according to Clause 10.5.4 of the tender process documents. The report and its findings are, however, classified and not likely to be released any time soon.
But it is worth noting that one of the objectives (number 16) of the tender process was to establish an NBN that is “consistent with national security, e-security and e-safety policy objectives including compliance with laws relating to law enforcement assistance and emergency call services”.
So is having a government controlled entity – NBNco – in control of one of the biggest national infrastructure spends in our history a better national security prospect than giving one company the rights to build and operate the network?
While the contents of the security assessment could provide some indication of how the government answered this question and the weight it gave to it during the final decision making process, my theory is they came in with a resounding "Yes, it is better".
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Comments
Bruce
A bit like the war on terrorism
Identification - already needed for most telco services
"cyber-safety and e-security, as perceived by parents/guardians and teachers"
So basically a race to the lowest common denominator as an excuse to get his internet filters in place.
“consistent with national security, e-security and e-safety policy objectives including compliance with laws relating to law enforcement assistance and emergency call services”
Wire tap is consistent with any carrier licence and is why we dont have more competition in the access space. Emergency call services to be expected in a network that will replace phones. The rest is just guff to allow certain foreign interests to be excluded, the network infrastructure to be hardened per current best practice. ESafety means the internet filters.
Move along, nothing to see here. The time for conspiracy theories will be when he ties the internet filters to hate crime legislation to protect certain ethnicities from criticism per developing trends in Europe and the US.
harry
censorship
If the Govt. builds and owns the NBN then, they can censor whatever they like. Will they pick and choose who can access the NBN and decide what is appropriate.
Anonymous
The SingTel/Optus issue became big news thanks largely to defence issues, so it isn't all that surprising this has come to a head here.
But then Singapore hasn't taken over our satellites any time recently, so should we really be freaking out?
I reckon there's a tiny bit of over-reaction from the Govt. on the issue.
Bruce
Defence
The defence angle is not a big issue. The government is also canvasing the states looking for customers. There is no way the NBN as originally read off the back of the napkin can be justified from a business point of view. Labor is clutching at straws trying to find revenue under every chair. If it is a government chair then it can use the NBN. This way we can spin revenue targets to keep the financiers happy.
In moving from a high speed access network to a whole of Australia network KRuddNet have bitten off much more than they can chew and will come out of this looking like idiots. Not sure defence will be happy moving from diverse network options amongst multiple carriers to a single carrier with just enough assets to score a political point.
Joff
Those issues about security are standard questions that must be addressed. What you should be more concerned about is WDM and the sharing of 'wavelengths' over multiple endpoints, and the ability to sniff the network, in the way you would have in a LAN, as opposed to separate copper or fibre tails back to the exchange which only the the carrier in their databases would know which line belong to whom. There's also the ability to hack the network ONT/CPE in the same way you can hack a LAN NIC to do sniff or even attack a network.
Anonymous
Sensible Fear?
The American 911 experience was almost a repeat of Pearl Harbour - Let's motivate our people to accept the security imperatives we believe are needed.
From a defense/security perspective it makes sense to allow a few small cuts to get the attention needed to effect desired changes.
Our communication networks have become as essential as water, electricity, waste, transport and other civil infrastructure. So of course they need REAL protection, especially as they are so vulnerable.
Will the NBN have real protection/security? I hope so! I for one am glad that these issues are being treated seriously at a federal level instead of being allowed to evolve around commercial marketplace decisions.
The political issues raised below about censorship and control will come regardless of the NBN. They are a reflection of the types of leaders we elect mixed with the fears of incumbent civil service heads and strategists.
The NBN as currently proposed will evolve to a more sophisticated solution if only because Telstra has demonstrated it can no longer be trusted with national interest priorities.
The days of everyone being immediately identifiable and responsible are less than a generation away. I know the Orwellian big brother fear has been around for a long time but current social & political climate has created a need for leaders to embrace "Sensible Fear".
No, I really don't like where our counties leadership is going. The sun has just about set on a very interesting era that I wish had lasted a little longer so that my 5 year old son would have enjoyed a healthier society.
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