Cyber Attacks: Securing Agencies’ICT Systems
Cyber crime is an international problem, and it is estimated that in 2012, 5.4 million Australians fell victim to such crimes, with an estimated cost to the economy of $1.65 billion ... . In the government sector, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD)3 has estimated that between January and December 2012, there were over 1790 security incidents against Australian Government agencies. Of these, 685 ... were considered serious enough to warrant a Cyber Security Operations Centre response. <br/> The protection of Australian Government systems and information from unauthorised access and use is a key ... ... Cyber-security strategy needs consistent implementation and periodic reviews ... List of 35 mitigation controls against cyber intrusions are a basic tool of information security strategy of the Australian Government. Top four are: 1. application whitelisting, 2. patching ... application, 3. patching operating systems, 4. minimising administrative privileges. Analysis by the ANAO helps to fill gaps and to direct next steps.
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Managing the risk of legacy ICT to public service delivery
The cross-government report describes the case studies from four public services (state pension, Value Added Tax collection, prescription payment and consumer credit licensing services) selected ... to illustrate the range of approaches that small and large government bodies are taking to address the issues arising from legacy ICT (defined as "systems and applications that have been operationally embedded ... within a business function but superseded by newer and more effective technologies or changed business needs"). ... Possible approaches to the problem of 'legacy ICT' ... UK’s government experience in managing the risks connected to legacy ICT provides valuable insight for others facing the same problem and are considering transforming their services.
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Operation of the Record Systems Applied in the Eligibility Scheme of Benefits and Services Provided from the Social Security Funds
Hungarian SAI evaluated the set-up and operation of the basic registries of managing bodies (National Health Insurance Fund, Central Administration of National Pension Insurance, National Tax ... and Customs Administration), as well as the dataflow amongst them. In addition, the control system of fulfilling the data provision obligation was evaluated, as well as the IT support activities and whether ... the records had proven reliable in supporting services in compliance with eligibilities and in filtering unjustified services. The audited period covered the years 2007-2010. ... ... Well considered regulations are essential for good quality data ... State Audit Office of Hungary.has proved that date safety may depend on quality of regulations. The report on record systems of social security services casted light on risk connected with huge data ... bases managed by different entities, in a changing legal environment.
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Audit of the key ICT project regarding a consumption tax platform Federal Customs Administration (FCA)
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) audited the key ICT project concerning a consumption tax platform from May to June 2015. The programme was launched in January 2014 with a budget of CHF 13.5 ... million. The instructing parties were the management of the Federal Customs Administration (FCA), the Swiss Alcohol Board (SAB) and the Federal Office of Information Technology, Systems ... and Telecommunication (FOITT). ... ... First attempt to ITC consumption tax project ... SAI Switzerland analised problems steming from insufficient specification of a complex ICT system project concerning a consumption tax platform. The project's budget turned out to cover only 70 ... % of the expected functions. Suspension of the project and restarting preparations stage followed.
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