Standards lag creates ‘a cyber minefield’

Australia is at risk of falling behind in the development of standards for new technologies, according to a milestone report.

Australia is at risk of falling behind in the development of standards for new technologies, according to a milestone report that says doors are being left “unlocked” for cyber criminals to harvest data and steal the identities of Australians.

The report by national standards body Standards Australia said Australia had a lot of work to do in setting standards for emerging technologies and the nation’s “future prosperity” depended on keeping ahead of the curve.

Standards refer to voluntary documents that set out guidelines that aim to ensure products, ser­vices and systems are safe, consistent and reliable.

“With the rapid emergence of new technologies, standards drive innovation and competitiveness in these fields in Australia while also helping ensure responsible and ­secure use of the technologies,” the report said.

In the past five years, Australia has adopted just one such document for artificial intelligence, eight for the internet of things, one for cloud computing and nine for smart cities.

Of the 138 international “information security, cybersecurity, and privacy protection” standards developed, Australia has adopted just nine.

Ian Oppermann, NSW Chief Data Officer and co-author of the report, said this was because of the time taken to consider each standard and whether it was appropriate in the Australian context, and a reticence to adopt standards that were seen as “slowing down” technological progress.

“There’s always the view that standards slow things down, so when it comes to emerging technology, there’s a hesitancy to get involved from people who want to get on with things and create that new technology,” he said.

“So in the world of standards, the thinking is that we can become more agile and responsive and move towards standards delivered for devices and actually get them to market faster.”

The report estimated up to 4000 standards needed to be put in place over the next decade to “keep pace with the frantic transformation of the global economy”.

The key recommendation from the report is for government, the ICT community and Standards Australia to work together to guide the uptake of data and digital standards, and support business in implementing them.

Dr Oppermann said the uptake of emerging technologies without set standards put Australians at risk. “This (lack of standards) can help create doorways into your home and personal information you don’t know is there,” he said.

“This in turn creates an access point to your home network, ­allows people to steal your data and steal your identity.”

Standards Australia chief executive Adrian O’Connell said the report was “a call to arms” for government and business to participate in development of international standards to ensure best practice and address risks that come with technological change.