Johnston told ZDNet Australia that he would like to see the new cybesecurity auditing powers given to the Trusted Information Network Sharing Network (TISN) for Critical Infrastructure Resilience, a government forum for sharing cybersecurity data and measures between public and private organizations. The additional powers would enable the TISN to beef up baseline cybersecurity standards required to interact with the government.
The shadow defense minister is part of the shadow cabinet of Australia, which is a group of senior opposition lawmakers who are not part of the government.
Johnson said that government agencies’ purchase of inexpensive equipment increases the cybersecurity risk of having backdoor malware loaded on computers, servers, and processor chips. Backdoor malware can provide access to cyber criminals or foreign governments to the government’s networks.
He also supports reducing the discretionary powers of defense departmental chiefs and increasing the cybersecurity power of the Defence Signals Directorate, which oversees defense procurement. Last year, the Department of Defence released the Australian Government Information Security Manual, which lays out measures government agencies should take to improve cybersecurity.
Also last year, the Australian government issued its Cyber Security Strategy, which describes the government’s approach to cybersecurity for both the public and private sectors. Among its objectives, the document seeks to "improve the detection, analysis, mitigation and response to sophisticated cyber threats, with a focus on government, critical infrastructure and other systems of national interest."