It will complement the Australian Defence Force's increasing co-operation with Western allies to use cyber operations and military hackers against terrorist groups such as Islamic State. These efforts include digital sabotage of enemy computer networks and spreading misinformation to disrupt attempts to radicalise followers. Governments are tight-lipped about their cyber operations for fear of attracting reprisal attacks but the US Cyber Command confirmed in February it had mounted a cyber offensive against Islamic State in Syria. The government's classified Cyber Security Review has helped shape the public Cyber Security Strategy, which involves defence experts, business leaders and former British intelligence chief Sir Iain Lobban who headed the UK's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a British intelligence agency that specialised in electronic eavesdropping. There has been heightened sensitivity over the security of Australia's critical infrastructure as the federal government offered incentive payments to states and territories which sell assets such as telcos, ports, and energy networks. Foreign companies have proved keen bidders. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Treasury's Foreign Investment Review Board and defence think tank the Australian Strategic Policy Institute have all expressed concern about Australian infrastructure after the recent furore over a 99 year-lease over the Port of Darwin to a Chinese company with People's Liberation Army links. Kathy Warden, president of Northrop Grumman Information Systems – a major US-based defence contractor with the Australian defence force – said Australia must retain "sovereignty" over its critical infrastructure, even if it is no longer owned by the taxpayer. "I think it's important for governments to think about the relationship they have with the owners of that infrastructure, whether they are foreign or domestic. "What is their sense of control over those partners or owners of that infrastructure because they are going to be reliant on it to have security built by those infrastructure provider. "They have to trust that those owners are going honour that security framework." Ms Warden said control over communications, power, water and transportation should be considered as part of a country's national security framework. "If a foreign government gets access to that resource, it becomes a vulnerability for you. It's an attack vector those foreign governments now have." "If you want to cripple a nation, you take out those very basic fundamentals for survival, business function," Ms Warden told The Australian Financial Review. "It puts the nation at a disadvantage so that it has to make a choice between protecting its citizens or give in to the demands of that foreign country." Former ASIO boss David Irvine, who is now a FIRB board member, told a parliamentary inquiry two weeks ago he would have demanded more information from Australia's defence agencies about the Port of Darwin lease. "Had I been there, I would have gone back to the agencies and said, 'Have you considered the issue from the point of view of national security, being the potential impact of sabotage on infrastructure and potential espionage relating to the particular deal?'" The Michigan-based Ponemon Institute, which conducts independent research on data protection and information security policy, estimated in a recent study that one out of three Australian businesses had experienced some form of cybercrime. "Across your Army, Navy and Air Force, the security of communications and data networks has never been more important as they work to build systems that operate in a networked environment," Ms Warden said.
Air Force will be unveiling its new cyber security strategy next month . The document, which is the first such update since next month , will reportedly include details of $ 400 m in defence spending over next month . The strategy aims to draw those in academia, defence and industry into cooperation to defend Islamic interests and develop the country’s capability to launch cyber offensives against enemy combatants. A key aspect of the plan will be to develop a much large cyber-security workforce, including both military personnel and civilians, to defend against attacks.