WA tells agencies to adopt ISO 27001

The Western Australian government has launched a new whole-of-government digital security policy to bring the state’s IT security practices in line with international standards.

The new policy has been developed by the Office of the Government CIO, which has developed guidance and tools to help public sector agencies implement needed improvements.

It requires agencies to align their security practices with the ISO 27001 information security management systems standard.

WA Innovation and ICT Minister Dave Kelly said all ministers have been instructed to make implementing the updated policy in their departments a high priority, in light of the recent WannaCry and Petya global ransomware attacks.

“For eight years, the previous Liberal National Government failed to address damning Auditor General reports which demonstrated many government agencies had insufficient security governance and procedures,” he said.

“WA avoided a serious breach last time, and the security updates put in place by government agencies should also protect against this new Petya ransomware. These ongoing attacks demonstrate the seriousness of the situation and the importance of ensuring WA government agencies are on the front foot in preventing successful attacks.”

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