❓ A WA parliamentary question sought information on cyber attacks against departments and agencies within the Deputy Premier's portfolio since March 2017. The response indicates minimal detected attacks, with WA Health noting numerous events but no viable threats reported to relevant authorities.
AnsweredQoN 3671Legislative Assembly
Asked
14 August 2018
Member
Portfolio
Deputy Premier; Minister for Health; Mental Health
QuestionView source ↗
For all departments, agencies, government trading enterprises or boards within the Minister’s portfolio responsibilities I ask since 11 March 2017: (a) How many attempted cyber attacks have there been on internal network systems and if any: (i) How many of these were conducted by a non-state foreign actor; (ii) How many of these were conducted by a nation-state foreign actor; and (iii) How many were successful and was any material containing Cabinet or customer related detail compromised; (b) How many attempted cyber attacks have there been on external network systems or websites and if any: (i) How many of these were conducted by a non-state foreign actor; (ii) How many of these were conducted by a nation-state foreign actor; and (iii) How many were successful and was any material containing Cabinet or customer related detail compromised; and (c) How many attempted cyber attacks have there been on any internet enabled devices (i.e. iPhones, iPads etc.) and if any: (i) How many of these were conducted by a non-state foreign actor; (ii) How many of these were conducted by a nation-state foreign actor; and (iii) How many were successful and was any material containing Cabinet related detail compromised?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
20 September 2018
Response time
11 days
Department of Health and health service providers advise:
(a) None detected.
(i)-(iii) Not applicable.
(b) There are more than 2000 network events per second across the WA Health system. A varying proportion of these events are attempted cyber security attacks or reconnaissance for potential cyber security attacks, most however are not considered viable threat to the WA Health ICT network. Managed cyber security attacks, also known as Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) and some types of malicious software attack are considered to be viable threat. If these are detected it is WA Health procedure to report these to the WA Office of Digital Government, Joint Cyber Security Centre (JCSC), Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and the WA Police Force as appropriate. There have been no such attacks detected or reported in the requested time period.
(i)-(ii) Attribution is not a WA Health responsibility.
(iii) None detected.
(c) It is not feasible to quantify this number. Devices using WA Health wireless networks are protected by standard network defences. SIM enabled devices should be protected by their respective telecommunications provider.
(i)-(ii) Attribution is not a WA Health responsibility.
(iii) None detected.
Mental Health Commission advises:
(a)-(c) Nil.
Healthway advises:
(a)-(c) Nil.
Health & Disability Services Complaints Office advises:
(a)-(c) Nil.
Animal Resource Authority advises:
(a)-(c) Nil.
(a) None detected.
(i)-(iii) Not applicable.
(b) There are more than 2000 network events per second across the WA Health system. A varying proportion of these events are attempted cyber security attacks or reconnaissance for potential cyber security attacks, most however are not considered viable threat to the WA Health ICT network. Managed cyber security attacks, also known as Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) and some types of malicious software attack are considered to be viable threat. If these are detected it is WA Health procedure to report these to the WA Office of Digital Government, Joint Cyber Security Centre (JCSC), Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and the WA Police Force as appropriate. There have been no such attacks detected or reported in the requested time period.
(i)-(ii) Attribution is not a WA Health responsibility.
(iii) None detected.
(c) It is not feasible to quantify this number. Devices using WA Health wireless networks are protected by standard network defences. SIM enabled devices should be protected by their respective telecommunications provider.
(i)-(ii) Attribution is not a WA Health responsibility.
(iii) None detected.
Mental Health Commission advises:
(a)-(c) Nil.
Healthway advises:
(a)-(c) Nil.
Health & Disability Services Complaints Office advises:
(a)-(c) Nil.
Animal Resource Authority advises:
(a)-(c) Nil.
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