From: The Australian

Paul Maley

A GOVERNMENT white paper dealing with the threat of cyber hacking and espionage has been quietly shelved and replaced with a more general discussion paper on the digital economy.

Last week, Julia Gillard nominated the threat of cyber attack as one of the defining national security challenges of our age, along with the rise of China.

To help tackle the threat, the Prime Minister announced the creation of the Australian Cyber Security Centre as a hub for intelligence and law enforcement experts from across government agencies.

But an all-of-government white paper announced in June 2011 to examine the cyber landscape has been abandoned. Instead, Ms Gillard announced in October her intention to “broaden” the cyber white paper, which would have focused on cyber security.

“I think we should be broadening (the cyber white paper) out so it is more a digital white paper and helps us capture some of the more profound and longer-term issues that have been brought to the table,” Ms Gillard said.

Responsibility for the new paper has been shifted from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to the Department of Digital Economy, run by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.

One government source told The Australian one of the reasons for reconfiguring the cyber white paper was to allow the government to spruik the benefits of the National Broadband Network.

“They want to have something to say about how critical the NBN is to Australia in the Asian century,” the source said.

A spokeswoman for Senator Conroy said the decision to expand the scope of the paper arose after industry consultation.

“The implications of the digital age extend beyond just the issue of cyber security and cyber safety,” the spokeswoman said, denying the decision was taken out of a desire to sell the virtues of the NBN.

The paper would be delivered in the first half of this year.