David George from CERT Australia, which will soon merge into the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), has said that WannaCry and NotPetya "sent a shiver down the spine of the Australian government because, frankly, we were caught a little unawares".
"We have just established an ACSC watch station in the Crisis Coordination Centre of the Australian government. So we've linked our cybersecurity crisis arrangements right into the very core, the apex, of the Australian government's crisis coordination arrangements," George told the ACSC Conference in Canberra on Thursday.
According to George, the restructured ACSC[1] is increasing the resourcing of its communications teams, as well as establishing a "24/7 cyber newsroom" to "drive out early warning and outreach" proactively.
"That will be a very different way of engaging around the cyber landscape," George said.
"You would all be very aware, I think, that there are lots of commentators in this space. Some know what they're talking about, others perhaps less so. Some are available, and take every speaking opportunity, and others are a little harder to get, and that might be because they're actually in demand.
"We need to influence that narrative more broadly."
The ACSC's aim is to improve the awareness and level of understanding of cybersecurity issues, and to "lift the national conversation".
"Expect to see much more interactive social media from us, and I expect there will be some level of quirkiness if we can move down that particular path," George said.
"Certainly we need to find an engaging voice, and that's the issue."
Several participants in the discussion pointed to the social media presence of the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre[2] (NCSC) as