Outgoing IIA chief executive, Peter Coroneos
The Internet Industry Association (IIA) has come out in support of an industry-led proposal to create a cyber security czar or ombudsman.
Representatives of Yahoo7!, ninemsn and Microsoft Australia recently presented the concept during a Senate committee hearing into cyber safety issues, arguing a czar or ombudsman could better cooordinate government and industry activities.
Speaking at a briefing in Sydney, outgoing IIA chief executive, Peter Coroneos, said the proposal was an interesting concept and could be useful for consumers who had cyber security complaints and concerns.
“Right now, consumers have nowhere to go," he said. "They have complaints that they can take to individual organisations but there is no independent avenue for recourse. We have previously foreshadowed the need for a body to handle e-commerce complaints. Our thinking may be in parallel with these companies."
However, Coroneos said there was already an Electronic Funds Transfer Code of Practice in place, developed by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC).
“That has been working successfully for 10 years now. So the question is – is there warrant for something new? But anything that is going to advance end user trust and confidence is worthy of close consideration,” he said.
Coroneos also gave an update on the IIA's iCode , which was designed to bring internet service providers (ISPs) and consumers together to help mitigate the risks of zombie PCs and botnets.
Since the launch in December 2010, 90 per cent of ISPs have signed up to the code.
“ We will be announcing the next wave of ISPs that are coming on board during the Cyber Security industry week in May. We’re hoping to move to a 100 per cent compliance rate as soon as we can," he said.
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