20 May 2002

The University of Queensland has welcomed federal government moves to establish a national computer security reporting and alert system.

Attorney-General Daryl Williams announced today that the Federal Government was negotiating a contract with the Australian Computer Emergency Response Team (AusCERT) to establish a system to inform subscribers about vulnerabilities and potential threats from an Australian perspective.

Speaking at the AusCERT 2002 Conference on the Gold Coast, Mr Williams said, “the service would be particularly attractive to small to medium-sized organisations.”

AusCERT is based at The University of Queensland in Brisbane. Director of AusCERT, Nick Tate, said he looked forward to working with the Federal Government to explore ways of improving computer security across Australia.

Media: for further information, contact Graham Ingram, AusCERT, (telephone 07 3365 4417, email: auscert@auscert.org.au) or Mr Peter McCutcheon at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 1088, mobile 0413 380 012, email: p.mccutcheon@mailbox.uq.edu.au).