❓ The question seeks details on blocked URLs within WA government departments and agencies, and the frequency of access attempts. The answer confirms the use of blocking policies but cites difficulties in providing precise access attempt figures due to indirect blocking mechanisms.
AnsweredQoN 3495Legislative Assembly
Asked
14 August 2018
Member
Portfolio
Premier; Minister for Public Sector Management; State Development, Jobs and Trade; Federal-State Relations
QuestionView source ↗
Do any of the Minister's departments, agencies or government trading enterprises utilise an IT policy which includes blocked, banned or restricted URLs for users and if so: (a) Will the Minister table the details on those blocked, banned or restricted URLs: (i) If not, why not; and (b) Will the Minister provide a breakdown of how many times users have tried to access (a) in the past twelve months?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
19 September 2018
Response time
10 days
(a)
All Departments and Agencies across government have individual IT policies that block access to certain websites. The list of blocked websites varies by agency. Typically, this would include websites categorised as having malicious content and/or are known to be compromised, cryptocurrency and gambling websites and those used for/streaming and file-sharing (e.g. BitTorrent).
(b)
Agencies security arrangements block access to websites including those indirectly arising from visits to non-blocked websites. This includes items such as unsolicited pop-up advertising, embedded links, applications and for other active website content. As the majority of these access attempts were not deliberate attempts by users to access blocked sites, it is impossible to determine the number of deliberate (user initiated) attempts.
All Departments and Agencies across government have individual IT policies that block access to certain websites. The list of blocked websites varies by agency. Typically, this would include websites categorised as having malicious content and/or are known to be compromised, cryptocurrency and gambling websites and those used for/streaming and file-sharing (e.g. BitTorrent).
(b)
Agencies security arrangements block access to websites including those indirectly arising from visits to non-blocked websites. This includes items such as unsolicited pop-up advertising, embedded links, applications and for other active website content. As the majority of these access attempts were not deliberate attempts by users to access blocked sites, it is impossible to determine the number of deliberate (user initiated) attempts.
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