The computer network used by federal politicians and thousands of parliamentary staff has been left vulnerable to further mass hacking attempts, with auditors finding major faults remain seven years after Parliament House was targeted in a high-profile cyberattack.
A scathing Australian National Audit Office report found the Department of Parliamentary Services, which manages the online network, had failed to properly implement seven of the government’s eight core cybersecurity controls.
The findings raise fresh concerns about the resilience of one of the nation’s most sensitive IT environments at a time intelligence agencies continue to warn that Australian government systems remain prime targets for foreign espionage and cyberattacks.
Auditors concluded the department’s cybersecurity posture was only “partly effective”, finding it was relying on incomplete workarounds and risk-management…
