Email security policy changes business for Australian government agencies
Important changes to Australian Federal e-security policies means all Australian government agencies must implement protective marking to all outgoing emails.
Known as ACSI 33, (Australian Communications - Electronic Security Instruction 33) Email Protective Marking Policy, the new policy has wide-reaching implications for IT systems and processes. All Government agencies must consider devising policy and plans to ensure their IT systems are appropriately protected.
Practical implementation of email protective markings under ACSI 33 was discussed in a breakfast briefing hosted by Clearswift and janusNET in Canberra today.
Trevor Laughton of Clearswift explained how a key business benefit of email protective marking is the ability to track and report on organisational email use, including such reports as non-compliant emails.
The new policy specifies that all e-mails from government agencies containing security-classified information must include a protective marking to identify the maximum classification and set of caveats for the information.
E-mails that do not contain Official information must be marked with an appropriate protective marking such as Unofficial or Personal.
Increased use of mobile communications such as Blackberry handheld devices has led to a need for more highly secure procedures, he said.
Greg Colla, director janusNET, advised attendees on how to implement the new ACSI 33 policy. The email protective marking policy specifies the behaviour of the email system. The intent of the policy is to provide a means to manage and control the flow of sensitive information via email. This helps minimise the risk of information leakage, he said.
janusNET has recently released janusSEAL 2.0, developed specifically for Australian Federal Government agencies to implement protective marking policy.
Ed Sawkins, senior systems engineer, Clearswift presented a case study describing how AUSTRAC (Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) has implemented email protective markings.
AUSTRAC is Australia's anti-money laundering regulator and specialist financial intelligence unit. It oversees compliance with the reporting requirements of the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 by a wide range of financial services providers, the gambling industry and others. It also provides financial transaction reports information to State, Territory and Australian law enforcement and revenue agencies.
AGIMO (Australian Government Information Management Office) has released detailed guidelines on how to ensure networks comply with the protective marking requirements of ACSI 33. These guidelines discuss how email content filtering can help in meeting protective marking requirements.
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About Clearswift
Clearswifts MIMEsweeper range secures content and protects against digital attacks by enforcing security policies that increase productivity, reduce IT costs and create a safer business environment. Clearswift is the only vendor to offer comprehensive, policy-based content security in all three deployment methods: as software, as an appliance and as a managed service.
Web: www.clearswift.com
About janusNET
janusNET is an Australian company which develops IT solutions to address the unique security needs of Australian government and commercial sectors. janusNET's vision is to provide simple, easy to use and effective security technologies. janusNET is the specialist in the development of e-mail security solutions for Australian Government requirements.
Web: www.janus.net.au
Known as ACSI 33, (Australian Communications - Electronic Security Instruction 33) Email Protective Marking Policy, the new policy has wide-reaching implications for IT systems and processes. All Government agencies must consider devising policy and plans to ensure their IT systems are appropriately protected.
Practical implementation of email protective markings under ACSI 33 was discussed in a breakfast briefing hosted by Clearswift and janusNET in Canberra today.
Trevor Laughton of Clearswift explained how a key business benefit of email protective marking is the ability to track and report on organisational email use, including such reports as non-compliant emails.
The new policy specifies that all e-mails from government agencies containing security-classified information must include a protective marking to identify the maximum classification and set of caveats for the information.
E-mails that do not contain Official information must be marked with an appropriate protective marking such as Unofficial or Personal.
Increased use of mobile communications such as Blackberry handheld devices has led to a need for more highly secure procedures, he said.
Greg Colla, director janusNET, advised attendees on how to implement the new ACSI 33 policy. The email protective marking policy specifies the behaviour of the email system. The intent of the policy is to provide a means to manage and control the flow of sensitive information via email. This helps minimise the risk of information leakage, he said.
janusNET has recently released janusSEAL 2.0, developed specifically for Australian Federal Government agencies to implement protective marking policy.
Ed Sawkins, senior systems engineer, Clearswift presented a case study describing how AUSTRAC (Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) has implemented email protective markings.
AUSTRAC is Australia's anti-money laundering regulator and specialist financial intelligence unit. It oversees compliance with the reporting requirements of the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 by a wide range of financial services providers, the gambling industry and others. It also provides financial transaction reports information to State, Territory and Australian law enforcement and revenue agencies.
AGIMO (Australian Government Information Management Office) has released detailed guidelines on how to ensure networks comply with the protective marking requirements of ACSI 33. These guidelines discuss how email content filtering can help in meeting protective marking requirements.
- ends -
About Clearswift
Clearswifts MIMEsweeper range secures content and protects against digital attacks by enforcing security policies that increase productivity, reduce IT costs and create a safer business environment. Clearswift is the only vendor to offer comprehensive, policy-based content security in all three deployment methods: as software, as an appliance and as a managed service.
Web: www.clearswift.com
About janusNET
janusNET is an Australian company which develops IT solutions to address the unique security needs of Australian government and commercial sectors. janusNET's vision is to provide simple, easy to use and effective security technologies. janusNET is the specialist in the development of e-mail security solutions for Australian Government requirements.
Web: www.janus.net.au
