Is your data security a government priority?

With a much-reported, increased reliance on online functionality to make the economy, our social lives and our businesses go, it seems somewhat reckless to merely pay lip service to data security while professionals are literally hacking away at it. But that’s what the government appears to be doing. Just looking for a moment at the balance between “emphasis on privacy and online security” versus “legislation enacted to allow the government access to private emails, hardware and data” makes it clear where the federal interest may lay.

Since the post-911 Security Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Act 2002 came into being as a response to a historic act of terrorism, the federal government has passed a further 91 (ninety-one) security bills. Amazingly, these bills passed with bi-partisan approval which, for all who have even a passing interest in “Question Time”, is absolutely stunning. So, with a total of 92 bills in effect, ensuring that the door to our absolute privacy and data security remains at least slightly ajar, it seems that between human error, apathy and legislation, we (us and our businesses) are and will remain vulnerable for the foreseeable…

…Unless we prioritise investing in our data security.

What can be done to beef up data security at work and at home, in the current climate?

To summarise the landscape upon which you live and quite possibly run a business, we can say with certainty that there are countless cybercriminals “out there” using varying levels of complexity and guile to access your data. We all know that their reasons for doing this are many and varied but inevitably it always comes back to “your data is worth money… to someone.” Whether it’s identity theft, marketing research, scams, other crimes… we know this is the case. Moving on from that, we also understand that the federal foot is jammed in the backdoor of many devices and platforms provided by Big Tech, thanks to the aforementioned 92 pieces of legislation passed in Australia. Legislation that would be non-starters in countries like the UK, US and Canada and others because they have a Bill of Rights. We do not, here in Australia, as somewhere along the line, the authors of our constitution at the time of writing, felt it my conflict with or impede certain social and commercial norms of the day – enough said.

That being said, there is now a tension between protecting our citizenry from terror, human trafficking and other crimes, and impacts on people’s rights – to privacy for example.

It sounds dramatic and yes, this is a story that we, among others have looked into before. But again, when you look more closely at the provision within this year’s Surveillance Legislation and Amendment Act and Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access Bill 2018), that allows government agencies to access, add, copy, delete or alter data within a device as part of an investigation… questions must be asked. Like, do we need to be more proactive about our own data security and if so, how? Obviously, this goes beyond simply, using a complex password, a VPN and common sense – although, that definitely helps. But there’s more.

While Big Tech, and certainly those branches that are domestically stationed, will err towards compliance and a one-size-fits-all approach, at all costs, there are designers and manufacturers of secure phones, laptops and platforms that are committed to customer satisfaction and peace of mind in the face of known privacy threats – first last and always.

The IntactPhone is a prime example. Developed by CommuniTake, a forward-thinking group of experts committed to total mobile security and productivity, CommuniTake is renowned for creating cybersecurity solutions for businesses and organisations worldwide. Understand that cybercriminals prioritise vulnerabilities (as and when they discover them or create them) and the government has worked hard to ensure that data remains accessible if they deem it should be. So shopping devices that meet your needs – including privacy protection and data security – needs to be towards the top of your own list… because the truth is, you may not find it on anyone else’s.