Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week was Stay Smart Online Week. The internet is effectively a story of the good, the bad and the ugly. With an estimated 20.6 million internet users in Australia, it is essential that we make sure all Australians are aware of cybersecurity and its importance. Just about every aspect of our lives is linked with some use of the internet. Almost everything to do with the internet is referred to as 'cyber' something: 'cyber cafe' means you can get internet services as well as a coffee and 'cyberattacks' means someone is trying to hack your system. I am sure, as we become more and more dependent on the internet, the use of the word 'cyber' will continue to grow.

While many parts of the internet that we know now are just great—Facebook to stay in touch with relatives, internet banking instead of going to the bank, and even sending a gift if we are so busy we forget; we can just google the gift, pay and get it sent—the bad part of the internet is its misuse by those who are trying to steal part of your personal life, part of your business or part of your intellectual property rights. This bad part of the internet is called cybercrime, and it is estimated to cost Australians over a billion dollars a year. However, there are a range of steps that can be taken to keep both families and businesses safe online. Last week the Turnbull government launched two cyber security guides: an updated Stay Smart Online business guide and a Stay Smart Online My guide for individuals. These can both be downloaded from the Stay Smart Online website. More than 1,700 partners across Australia have combined to prepare these guides to help protect Aussies from some sort of cybercrime.

There are eight key steps for individuals: be careful of the information you share; use really strong passwords; if you receive a message that you did not really expect to get, delete it—if it was from a friend they will contact you again; when browsing the internet, be careful of the pop-ups that appear—are they coming from a trusted web site?; keep your bank details away from prying eyes and do not share them with anyone; mobile phones and tablets are really convenient but they can be used by others so make sure the shut down time is pretty short and password protected; update your security software to keep yourself safe; and if you feel that something is too good to be true then it probably is and it is likely to be a scam so report the source so it can be investigated.

Approximately 84 per cent of small-to-medium Australian business have an online presence and it is super important that we all take the right steps to protect ourselves. You really have to have pass phrases that are unique to each employee. If you leave your desk for some reason, lock your computer; you may think you are only going to be a minute but you may take longer. Make sure everyone is 'cyber sensible' for your business or organisation. Maintain high levels of privacy; keep your friends close but keep information closer. Back up your data; you never know when you may have a system fail, and re-doing the work from scratch is both tedious and very un-productive.

I tell this story to many students during my visits to schools. It is amusing but it does really emphasise the need to back up. Many years ago, when computers were a pretty new concept and records were only just being moved from paper to floppy disks and clunky computers, I was a teacher and a form advisor for more than 300 students. I was often in the position of having to write lists of students going to different events, swimming carnivals and the like, so I thought I would capture all their names on a master list. Well I typed in all those names in alphabetical order and then prepared the sprocket loaded paper ready to print—that tells you how old this story is—but the paper bundle fell and knocked the power point out of the socket. Every name was lost and I had to begin all over, so the most important lesson was 'save as you go'.

Staying smart online will become more important as we advance our technologies and our digital applications. For parents, carers and responsible adults, there is potential in the ugly side of the internet. Do you know who your children are talking to? Are they educated about the different searches on the net? Have they switched off their geo-locators before posting Facebook photos? Are their posts showing them possibly drinking and that their parents are away from home? Are we doing everything possible to keep our children from being the subject of an online stalker? And finally, perhaps most important of all, are we helping them through ways and techniques to deal with online bullying from their mates at school or work who are supposed to be their friends? Too often we leave the wellbeing of our children and family to the potential influence of online cheating, cynicism, crime and criticism. We all have a role to play in so many aspects of our cyber life, both now, tomorrow and all the tomorrows ahead of us. For all our sakes, stay smart online.

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