SCADA ( Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) Practitioners and Vendors Forum

Thursday, 20 November 2008 

It is a pleasure to be with you at another SCADA Community of Interest forum.

I am delighted to see so many organisations represented here today testament to the importance of the role played by SCADA in the delivery of essential services to the Australian community.

This is the second time I have addressed a SCADA Community of Interest event the previous occasion was in Melbourne back in September, at a meeting hosted by the Victorian Government.

The SCADA Community of Interest is an ideal forum for practitioners and IT professionals to exchange information on common SCADA security issues and, importantly, work together to address them.

This collaboration has already delivered positive outcomes, such as the:

• SCADA Risk Management framework;
• guidelines for APEC economies; and
• providing assistance to other Australian Government agencies and academic institutions on major SCADA cyber-security vulnerabilities and research.

The Rudd Government through forums like the SCADA Community of Interest is committed to supporting the owners and operators of Australia's critical infrastructure.

At the September event, I said that the security of our critical systems (such as SCADA) is not a one-off exercise, but rather a 'journey' requiring ongoing commitment.

Part of this commitment has been the participation by Australian SCADA practitioners at the Advanced SCADA Cyber-Security Training Workshop Program in Idaho, USA.

As was the case in Melbourne, and in other meetings earlier in the year, the SCADA community has benefitted enormously from hearing first-hand the experiences of fellow practitioners who attended the US Department of Homeland Security program.

This morning you have heard from two of the 23 practitioners who have attended the program over the past two years.

Each has highlighted the need for improved collaboration with the suppliers of SCADA products.

The need to foster information-sharing between those parties that use, and those that supply SCADA products and services, is critical to enhancing security systems.

This view is strongly supported by our counterparts in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Today's forum is an important first step in enhancing this collaboration between the owners and operators of infrastructure, and their service providers.

It is only through open dialogue in trusted environments such as this one, that we collectively gain a true understanding of the space in which we operate.

I have every confidence that today's forum will deliver the broader SCADA industry with the information it requires to implement more secure SCADA systems.

Furthermore, your own efforts in helping to improve Australia's SCADA systems, has wider implications.

You are also helping to ensure that Australian communities have continued access to services such as electricity, natural gas, water, waste treatment, transportation and communications.

For those of you who attended the Melbourne Community of Interest meeting, you might recall Martin Stacey from Queensland Powerlink stressing the importance of the industry speaking with one voice.

Back then, Martin stated and I completely agree: 'organisations listen… governments listen… when this occurs!'

Ladies and gentlemen, your attendance at today's forum clearly demonstrates the importance you place on securing SCADA systems and the benefits of improved collaboration.

I wish you well in your endeavours.

Thank you.