New industry group to battle critical infrastructure security threats

Australia is to get another cyber infrastructure information sharing network, with the launch of the Critical Infrastructure – Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (CI-ISAC) in the Sunshine Coast city of Maroochydore.

CI-ISAC CEO David Sandell
CI-ISAC

Co-founder and CEO David Sandell said the group wants to recruit all 537 Australian local governments as members, because “every piece of Australia’s critical infrastructure resides in the territory of a local government”.

CI-ISAC estimates there are as many as 11,000 organisations in Australia that could become members, drawn from “everything from banking, water and power grids to supermarkets and mining”, the group said.

Sandell said the group will “provide the governance and trusted, independent, structured set of enabling capabilities” to help members (known to CI-ISAC as “cyber defenders”) work together against attackers.

CI-ISAC will particularly target organisations operating in the 11 critical infrastructure and 22 asset classes covered by the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act, known as SOCI.

Sandell said the CI-ISAC model aims to help members “detect attackers in their networks and proactively get ahead of the latest attacker techniques.

“This outcome can only be achieved through all industry players being CI-ISAC members, and working together with collective transparency," he said.

CI-ISAC’s board is chaired by Stephen Beaumont, a retired brigadier and former director-general of joint intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic warfare and cyber at the Department of Defence.

Sandell has worked in cyber security and threat intelligence for several financial sector organisations including Deutsche Bank and Schroders, before moving to Australia and taking roles with NAB and ANZ Banking Group.