Telcos to be added to SoCI regime

Cyber security minister Clare O’Neil is ready to introduce legislation bringing telecommunications companies under security of critical infrastructure legislation.

Telcos were carved out when the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SoCI) came into force in 2018, partly because they were covered by the telecommunications sector security reforms (TSSR) passed in 2017.

However, in light of Optus’ nine-hour outage on November 8, O’Neil said this has to change, telling ABC’s AM current affairs program this morning that “there’s no question in my mind that when we came to government, telcos weren’t being properly regulated."

“They should always have been subject to strict cyber requirements," O'Neil said.

O'Neil added: “We are setting tough new laws for our telecommunications companies, to make sure that these companies are properly protecting the cyber security of Australian citizens and their data”.

Coverage under SoCI would also require telcos to report their efforts to the government.