Future Government policies are a key factor in the location of companies and the services provided by businesses in Australia. It is important for the wider IT industry to be fully informed as to the policies which may affect the IT industry, future employment and the prospects for IT businesses to grow and prosper. In this exclusive industry policy launch, Senator Lundy will cover the following key points:

• Outlining our policies relating to the attraction of international investment into the Australian IT market
• What specific measures would we take to foster the growth of IT?
• Articulating our policy on the outsourcing of Government IT contracts to offshore developers
• Future government initiatives for combating online fraud

Disater Recovery and Assuring Information

Richard Forno, a security consultant and the former Chief Security Officer for Network Solutions and the InterNIC takes a look at how the InterNIC prepared for worst case scenarios ranging from Y2K, terrorism, and the post 9/11 efforts against terrorism. In addition, he will outline some common-sense considerations for continuity planning of critical operations based on his work supporting the US national security community following September 11.

Drawn from his experiences, Richard's discussion will focus on:

• Conducting "Reality-Based" and not "Fear-Based" BCP/DR Planning
• How the InterNIC planned for emergencies that could impact global DNS
• How Richard's team kept critical information services available to the US national security and law enforcement communities in the hours and days following the September 11 attacks

Refocussing workplace behaviour on security awareness

• Taking your security message to the “masses”
• Managing sensitive information wisely
• Separating policy from technical issues
• Educating staff about the dangers of inadequate security
• Developing a plan that’s workable and saves money

Combating threats posed by Virus writers and Spammers

• Recognising a virus for what it is and stopping it before it’s too late
• The latest methods Spammers use to avoid detection by Spam filters
• Practical strategies for protecting your systems

Setting new benchmarks for IT security education

• Discovering what’s being done on campus to strengthen collaboration between education and the industry
• Learn what’s needed for accreditation and training
• Learning how “information assurance” programs are improving the quality of IS programs
• What are employers looking for and are tertiary institutions matching those needs?
• Is there a demand for fully-fledged “information security” degrees?

In association with MIS magazine, this session allows for your individual concerns to be addressed and workshopped in an interactive manner. This focus group session provides opportunities to discuss your challenges in a peer-to-peer environment. Delegates will have the opportunity to submit topics anonymously via MIS magazine with the top challenges and issues serving as a basis for the MIS facilitated think tank. At the closure, facilitators will feed back the experiences, insights and ideas shared.
 Topics to be covered:

• Creating a business plan for business continuity
• Governance and security, what is the CIO’s role?
• Creating an email usage policy- Enforce it or use it as legal cover?

A guided tour of international surveillance systems

• The Echelon system; how international ‘signals intelligence’ works
• Where, how and against whom?
• How this affects government organisations, companies and individuals
• Achieving information security in the age of cross border surveillance

Incident Response Management

• Who are the perpetrators and what are their goals and motives?
• Methods used to breech information systems
• Legal complexities, public relations, risk management, and government regulatory issues
• Securing the crime scene, preservation of evidence, forensic examination and law enforcement involvement
• Raising security expectations, evaluation of the current security posture and creation of an implementation plan

Cyber-terrorism—myth or monster?

• The surprising legal definition of a terrorist and its implications for your organisation.
• The likelihood of an attack and the potential impact to your organisation
• What is the real threat? Seeing through the hype.
• What are the most sensible countermeasures?

Internal Fraud and Computer Forensics- Halt! Who goes there?

• How people typically use and abuse computer systems?
• What properties determine “evidence” to be used against offenders?
• What are the limitations and obstacles that forensics expert face?
• Benefits of forensics for your business
• Technology solutions & the costs
• Establishing proactive plans to control internal fraud

Managing security risks of mobile computing

• Why is wireless security a concern?
• What are the risks of enterprise mobility?
• Protecting against spam and other offensive internet content.
• Taking advantage of benefits mobile technology brings.

Hacked to pieces
Many companies fear the negative publicity that could come with letting the public know a security breach such as hacking has been made, but could sweeping incidents under the carpet backfire? 

• The threat of insiders
• Cost to an organisation, down-time and reputation
• Controls and monitoring

Using a directory infrastructure to create a backbone for web services

• Solutions for securing web services
• Distributing services without sacrificing control
• Integrating existing data into a directory infrastructure to tighten security

Wollongong goes wireless

• Why wireless?
• Security challenges and lessons learned
• Choosing the most suitable security option
• Using Wi-Fi protected access
• Following it up - what next?

Is mobile security an oxymoron?

• How secure are mobile and wireless networks?
• What is the real threat from “eaves-droppers”?
• How robust is the technology for corporate users?
• Do the benefits of a wireless system outweigh the costs?
• What do you see the industry needs to or is doing to address these security issues?