Displaying items by tag: Reece Kershaw

It took just one question from Paul Karp, chief political correspondent at Guardian Australia, to put the brakes on at the National Press Club on Wednesday, during a Q&A for two top Australian security officials.

A 100-person strong task force, formed jointly by the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Signals Directorate, will be given the job of hunting down those who commit crimes online.

The attackers behind the ransomware heist on medical insurer Medibank Group are believed to be in Russia, the Australian Federal Police claims, without naming any of those involved.

The Australian Federal Police has joined with INTERPOL to step up the fight against child exploitation, with a significant update to a major international database in Melbourne on Friday.

ANALYSIS The Australian Federal Police appears to have provided the best possible argument for not passing federal bills that seek to enhance its powers, following the provision of details about using existing Australian encryption laws to read the encrypted messages of criminal gangs and take them down.

When the Federal Government issued a discussion paper in September last year indicating that it wanted to use the same as the basis for drafting a new cyber security strategy for 2020, it was quite clear that what was being looked at was a bigger role for the Australian Signals Directorate.

Australian Federal Police commissioner Reece Kershaw and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission chief executive Michael Phelan have both played down suggestions that the Australian Signals Directorate could be given expanded powers to carry out domestic surveillance in order to help track down people who are indulging in sexual abuse of children.