A WA parliamentary question on notice regarding the use of third-party firewall and anti-virus software within the Attorney General's portfolio agencies, revealing varying levels of protection and policies regarding sensitive information on unprotected devices.

AnsweredQoN 3780Legislative Assembly
Asked
14 August 2018
Portfolio
Attorney General

QuestionView source ↗

For all departments, agencies, government trading enterprises or boards within the Minister’s portfolio responsibilities, I ask as at 8 August 2018 do they operate any of the following: (a) Third party firewall software, if so: (i) How many network systems, computers and devices are protected (or what is the number of licences that have been issued); and (ii) Are any network systems, computers and devices unprotected by firewall software: (A) Do any of these unprotected systems, computers or devices manage Cabinet, customer, commercial or sensitive information; and (b) Third party anti-virus software, if so: (i) How many network systems, computers and devices are protected (or what is the number of licences that have been issued); and (ii) Are any network systems, computers and devices unprotected by anti-virus software: (A) Do any of these unprotected systems, computers or devices manage Cabinet, customer, commercial or sensitive information?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
20 September 2018
Response time
11 days
The Corruption and Crime Commission :
(a)  Yes.
(i)  650
(ii) No
(A) Not aplicable
(b) Yes
(i) 650
(ii) No
(A) Not applicable.
The Department of Justice:
(a) Yes.
(i) 7,500.
(ii) Laptops and mobile devices used outside the Department network are not protected by third party network firewalls.
(A) Data on unprotected laptops and mobile devices is protected by encryption as required by Department of Justice security policy. It is possible that these devices may be used to manage Cabinet, customer, commercial or sensitive information.
(b) Yes.
(i) 7,500
(ii) Yes, 18 UNIX servers are not protected by third party anti-virus software
(A) No unprotected servers manage Cabinet, customer, commercial or sensitive information.
Equal opportunity commission:
(a) Yes
(i) All internal systems and devices
(ii) No
(b) Not applicable
(i) Yes
(ii) All internal systems and devices
(A) Not applicable.
The Legal Practice Board will include the Legal Profession Complaints Committee (which is a Committee of the Board):
(a) No
(i)-(ii) Not applicable.
(b) Yes.
(i) 59
(ii) No
(A) Not applicable.
LegalAid Western Australia:
(a) Legal Aid WA does operate third party firewall software
(i) Approximately five hundred network systems, computers and devices connected to the Legal Aid WA network are protected by the firewall software.
(ii) Internet enabled devices such as iPhones and iPads are not protected by the firewall software
(iii) No. Legal Aid WA has a policy that Internet enabled devices such as iPhones and iPads are not allowed to store sensitive information unless approved encryption technologies have been used to secure the information. These devices are not permitted to access sensitive information located on the secure Legal Aid WA network.
(b) Legal Aid WA does operate third party anti-virus software
(i) Approximately five hundred network systems, computers and devices connected to the Legal Aid WA network are protected by the anti-virus software
(ii) Internet enabled devices such as iPhones and iPads are not protected by the anti-virus software
(iii) No. Legal Aid WA has a policy that Internet enabled devices such as iPhones and iPads are not allowed to store sensitive information unless approved encryption technologies have been used to secure the information. These devices are not permitted to access sensitive information located on the secure Legal Aid WA network.
Office of the Commissioner for Children and Young People:
(a) CCYP does not have a dedicated Firewall itself, but rather CCYP is part of the larger Department of Justice network which is protected by 16 Firewalls
(i) 26 computers/laptops and 5 servers (3 VM’s and 2 Physical – including Virtual server host) are protected
(ii) 2 notebooks not connected to the Department of Justice/CCYP network
(A) No
(b) Yes, through the Department of Justice
(i)  PC’s/notebooks/servers are provided by DoJ and all have Anti-virus software as part of the Department of Justice licence
(ii) None
(A) N/A
Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions:
(a) Yes
(i) The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has Windows Firewall currently activated on desktops, laptops and servers. The ODPP’s infrastructure is also protected via two external firewalls from the internet.
(ii) No.
(b) Yes
(i) ODPP’s desktops, laptops and server are protected by McAfee Antivirus software; and
(ii) No.
Office of the Information Commissioner:
(a) Yes.
(i) 25.
(ii) No.
(A) Not applicable.
(b) Yes.
(i) 25.
(ii) No.
(A) Not applicable.
State Solicitors Office:
(a) Yes
(i) The entire State Solicitor's network resides behind a third party firewall and is protected
(ii) There are no network systems, computers and devices that are unprotected
(A) n/a
(b) Yes
(i) All network systems, computers and devices are protected
(ii) There are no network systems, computers or devices that are unprotected
(A) n/a
Solicitor General’s Office:
Incorporated into the State Solicitors Office.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more