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approach to international engagement. This includes, among other things, engaging
with foreign Governments and organizations bilaterally and via multilateral forums
to help promote international best practice, share lessons, build capacity and foster a
coordinated global approach to combating cybersecurity threats.
Australia’s involvement in the United Nations includes co-sponsoring
resolutions on the creation of a global culture of cybersecurity and taking stock of
national efforts to protect critical information infrastructures, and on developments
in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international
security. Australia has also responded to General Assembly resolution 64/211 by
providing input on best practices for the protection of critical information
infrastructure, including information and communications technologies, with a view
to promoting global improvement in cybersecurity. Australia is a member of the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and contributes to study groups
under the Standardization and Development sectors. Australia provides funding to
the Development sector for capacity-building work in the Asia and Pacific region,
including cybersecurity initiatives. Australia is an active contributor to and the
previous Chair of the OECD Working Party on Information Security and Privacy,
and currently a volunteer country for the Working Party’s comparative analysis of
cybersecurity strategies. Australia was an integral leader in the development and
implementation of the Seoul-Melbourne Anti-Spam Agreement on cooperation
between Asia-Pacific nations in countering spam and the London Action Plan, which
is the pre-eminent international enforcement and cooperation network for combating
spam.
Australia enjoys a collaborative relationship and is committed to working with
its regional partners. We are closely engaged with other countries in our region in
building capacity to achieve a trusted, resilient and secure cyberspace. Australia
participates in activities of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Telecommunications and Information Working Group (APEC TEL) and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum work on
cybersecurity. Australia is the deputy convenor for the APEC TEL Security and
Prosperity Steering Group. Australia is currently seeking to co-lead the
cyberterrorism and transnational crime core area under the ASEAN Regional Forum
workplan.
At an operational level, the computer emergency response team maintains
close working relationships with national computer emergency response team
organizations around the globe. In Australia, the team actively participates in and
facilitates trusted and timely information sharing on a global level, including threat
and vulnerability information, to ensure the maintenance of situational awareness
and a consistent and coordinated global response to online threats. The team
actively contributes to capacity-building initiatives, particularly in the Asia-Pacific
region, including through its membership of the Asia-Pacific Computer Emergency
Response Team. Recognizing that information security is not geographically
limited, the team also works closely with other partners through its membership of
the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams and the International Watch and
Warning Network.
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