OCTOBER 3 2016
The term "cyber" has become a buzzword. But its ambiguity, along with such concepts as "cyber security" and "cyber war", mask what is a profound and complex reality facing governments, businesses, institutions and society.
Consider this: thanks to hacking, in the event of a full-scale war, some of Australia's most advanced weapons, including submarines and jet fighters, could be disabled electronically before they can be used. Radar operators could be fed false data to render air defences useless. Power grids could be switched off.
The PM says the pace of change in technology is unprecedented making it tough for cyber security experts to be one step ahead.
At any time, civilian populations can be deluged with hacked data or misinformation aimed at manipulating public perceptions, such as what is happening in the US election.
The internet may actually change the concept of war itself. Nation states can now commit aggressive acts against each other without incursions into sovereign territory. This new reality corrodes what has long been one of Australia's great strategic advantages – geography.
Countering the cyber threat involves a new kind of thinking about Australia's security.
When it comes to computer systems linked to the internet, every computer is equally distant from the next. No longer are Australia's computers a continent away. The 21st-century fear is less about foreign submarines in Sydney Harbour and much more about the possibility of a co-ordinated cyber assault on Australia's online assets – which increasingly control the physical world.
Australia's businesses and government could be made to pay a price for the political decisions taken. In this not-so-far-fetched scenario, foreign powers try to coerce the government through relentless cyber attacks on the private sector and critical institutions.
Countering this threat involves a new kind of thinking about Australia's security. Businesses must understand that, whether they like it or not, they're on the potential front line of cyber conflict.
Society should recognise that, despite competing domestic political and commercial interests, at the international level we benefit from some level of unity. While we have spirited disagreement – itself a sign of a healthy, democratic society – we must proclaim our shared desire to be free from coercion and interference from foreign nation states and criminals. This won't necessarily be easy, in part because reporting and understanding hacking and cyber aggression is difficult work. The time between a cyber attack and its detection, for example, can be months, if not years. The responsible parties and their motives remain murky.
Meanwhile, the public's appetite for answers after an organisation is hacked often outstrips the authorities' ability to reliably give them. Natural scepticism for authority can lead to events being misattributed, breaking down the broader link between cause and effect in the public perception.
Finally, in this world of cyber security, cyber defence and hacking, flocks of companies, many from overseas, will offer "silver bullet" solutions that can't possibly deliver what they promise – absolute security.
While assurance is what political and business leaders crave the most, the reality of the technology-driven environment is quite different. Innovations in security are outpaced by innovations in undermining security. This is not a static world. Simple, total, effective solutions are as unlikely in cyber defence as they are in policing, medicine or education.
There probably won't be a single solution, firewall or app to protect against the new threats borne by computers, hackers, criminal gangs and nation states.
The change cyber security represents is dramatic; all of society needs to adjust.
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