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The Australian High Commission congratulated 30 Solomon Islands Government officials for completing Australian-funded training to strengthen cyber security awareness, foundations, governance and incident response.
Speaking at an event to celebrate trainees’ achievements, Counsellor Governance Mr Andrew Elborn said, ‘Australia champions a safe, secure and prosperous region by working on programs that enable the use of critical technology to lift economic growth. Strong cyber security programs are important to safely engage with the technology. We are working together to take advantage of opportunities presented by the internet and digital technologies, while responding to new challenges.’
Trustwave Senior Security Adviser Georgia Turnham said, ‘It’s the ability to share, collaborate and transfer these skills and knowledge across borders that enables us as a whole region to improve our security and awareness about cyber security. Now more than ever, we all understand the importance of establishing teams and communities, and working together.’
Speaking on behalf of the Solomon Islands Government, Security Operations Centre Analyst at SIG ICT Services, Mr Thomas Bryan Uimarairi, said ‘Cybersecurity is an ever-growing priority for all sections of society. The access provided by the Coral Sea cable, supported by Australia, has increased the potential for possible threats as well as its great benefits.
‘This Australian funded program to improve cyber security skills of Solomon Islands has been very helpful to improve the awareness of cyber security and build the skills needed within SIG ICT Services, the Ministry of Communication and Aviation, particularly the CERT Team, as well as the members of the various SOEs who have attended these trainings.
‘Together, we will work to improve the overall security of the data and systems of Solomon Islands as a whole, along with the confidence that people have in ICT to provide a secure and safe ICT environment to compliment the currently robust and reliable Government ICT systems in place.’
This year, Australia, through Defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, was pleased to fund nine officials to undertake the University of New South Wales Cyber Security Boot Camp. Officials learnt about IT security issues, looking at the types of attacks that are happening now, how they work and how to protect oneself and their workplace.
Dozens of officials have also benefited from training provided by cyber security company Trustwave through Australia’s Cyber and Critical Tech Program. Working together virtually, and face-to-face in October this year, officials have strengthened cyber resilience, preparedness and response across the Solomon Islands Government.
Through the Program, Australia partners with over 40 different government, industry and other stakeholders across 25 countries in our region to build cyber resilience and uplift cyber and critical technology capacity.
Recognising that technology plays such a large part in our lives and has the potential to boost economic growth, Australia continues to provide a range of assistance to the Solomon Islands Government in the cyber and digital space. This includes engaging and funding Plan International and Child Fund to educate Solomon Islands youth about cyber safety, working with police on digital Forensics, working with the Ministry of Finance to assist in network monitoring services, and supporting Solomon Islands’ progress towards a digital economy.
As Mr Elborn said in his final remarks, “Much has changed through COVID-19, forcing us to move to more digital platforms of engagement, keeping the digital world safe and secure is critically important, programs like this are critical. It is so refreshing to see Trustwave here in person. This engagement with this program demonstrates how much stronger we are when we work together, and how much more we can achieve.”
SOURCE: AHC PRESS RELEASE
