Global Rise In Cyber Threats & Terrorism

As the cyber threat continues to haunt global organisations - putting peoples privacy and security at risk -Here's a timely story on the current hot topic of cyber security, with expert opinion from Reid Sawyer, who is ex- Army, a cyber and counter- terrorism specialist a Former FBI Fellow, Senior Counter-terrorism Advisor at the U.S. Department of Defence and currently JLT Senior Vice President - Cyber Security. Reid Sawyer is currently visiting Australia to discuss issues in the Australian cyber landscape and will participate in talks on Cyber Series.

Reid Sawyer- Counter Terrorism and Cyber Security Expert Source: supplied by JLT

Cyber terrorism is in its infancy at the moment says Reid Sawyer but it is something we are concerned about, and understanding the vulnerabilities of our critical infrastructure and buildings and what terrorist might be able to leverage by means to combine with the physical attack. There are certainly greater concerns of the way that terrorists are using cyber means right now as social media in the recruitment and the propaganda outfit.

So what can be done to counter this type of terrorism and invasion into the cyber space, I ask and Reid Sawyer advises that there are a few things that companies and individuals can do, the first being that organisations understand where their vulnerabilities lie and how they might be used in a way that we are not thinking of. In other words it is really about identifying that critical uncertainty and imagining what might be possible and then seeking the ways to remedy it to prevent it ahead of time.

Elaborating on trends in cyber-crime and what every day Australians can do to protect theselves, Reid gives some tips. He says the identity theft goes from the personally identifiable information and the personal health information, credit card information. All of those are at the individual level. They remain the real concern that everyday citizens need to be careful about when engaging in commerce or just even engaging on the internet. there really needs to be a focus on the individual level and what we refer as the cyber hygiene.

The question then arises about how vulnerable is Australia to terror threats. Reid Sawyer opines, The Australian government and intelligence services are some of the very best in the world in identifying the threat and we have seen this over the last 15 years as having them partnered long before 9/11 on these questions of critical importance. So from a position of readiness, Australias chances are as good as anybody in the world on this question. The problem of terrorism is global and it is present here in Australia as it is present in other countries even if the number or the density is not the same. So Australia certainly has reasons to be concerned."