TUANZ calls for stronger cyber security rules

The Technology Users Association is calling for regulation to protect consumers and small businesses from scams and other cybercrimes.

TUANZ had published a paper arguing the current system placed too much responsibility on individuals, likening it to a theme park where visitors were responsible for safety, rather than the system operator.

TUANZ chair Paul Littlefair said the level of sophistication necessary to protect oneself from cybercrime was beyond the scope of individuals and small businesses to navigate.

"We certainly have the view at the moment that it's a bit too much of user beware, and the amount of accountability that you have to take as an individual to look after your own safety is probably a little too high at the moment," Littlefair said.

He said the burden of identifying sophisticated AI-generated scams needed to shift from the individual user to the providers of these networks.

"We think we need to move from voluntary guidelines to enforceable legislation. We also need to close the gap for small businesses with a cyber health initiative, and basically bridge this equity gap between the large companies and small companies by introducing things like tax rebates or direct grants for SMEs (small to medium enterprises) to adopt essential security hygiene, such as multi-factor authentication, other things like that."

Littlefair said there should also be a greater focus on education for young people, in the way that financial literacy was being introduced into the curriculum.

"Cyber safety is a core life skill. Our children are going to be growing up to be digital natives, and this sort of thing is really important," he said.

"So, I think there's some really meaningful things that we could be doing right now."

TUANZ's four recommendations:

The government should transition from voluntary guidelines to enforceable legislation.

Incentives for SMEs, such as tax rebates or direct grants for adopting essential security hygiene such as multifactor authentication and secure cloud backups.

Regulation requiring telecommunications and social media platforms to proactively detect and block fraudulent activity and deepfakes.

Embed cyber safety as a core life skill and treat digital literacy as being as important as reading and mathematics.