Australia gets tough on cybercrime

Australia will strengthen its stance on cybercrime by signing the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime.

The move will see Australia join the European Union (EU), the United States, Canada, Japan and South Africa. The EU is pushing for the convention to become an international standard. Twenty-seven countries have so far signed the convention, however, more than 100 are using it to reform domestic laws.

Key points of the convention include:

• Countries will have a representative available 24 hours a day to assist in investigations and create domestic laws.
• The promise of greater international cooperation in fighting cybercrime.
• The charting of criminal offences (offences against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer data and systems; computer-related offences including forgery and fraud; content-related offences, including child pornography; and offences related to the infringement of copyright and other related rights).

Australia’s signing of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime follows our involvement in negotiations for the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and several national cybercrime attacks involving Federal Government websites and sites of major corporations. Signing the convention is one of many initiatives Australia is making to reduce our exposure to cybercrime and other potential cyber risks.