Home Affairs targets cyber security uplift with 'Project Eight'

Home Affairs has set up a dedicated taskforce within its ICT division to assess its cyber security maturity against the Essential Eight model and drive improvements in its posture.

The agency has codenamed the taskforce - and broader program of works - as ‘Project Eight’, and loaned Rebecca Giumelli, its current assistant secretary of technology operations and support, to lead the effort.

A Home Affairs spokesperson confirmed Project Eight’s remit to iTnews.

“Project Eight is a dedicated taskforce aimed at further enhancing the department’s capabilities in the prevention of cyber attacks,” the spokesperson said.

“The taskforce’s remit is to assess the revised Australian Signal’s Directorate’s Essential Eight maturity model and prioritise activities to further mitigate cyber security vulnerabilities.”

It was not clear how long the taskforce, or its work, is intended to run, nor the level of resourcing being put into it.

Broadly speaking, federal government agencies have struggled to attain a level of maturity when implementing the Essential Eight controls.

Agencies’ own assessed levels of maturity often differ from those of external auditors.