Major boost to Federal Government cyber security

CANBERRA, 30 September 2020 – Australian company TechnologyOne has become the only enterprise software solution in the world to earn the coveted ‘IRAP PROTECTED’ security assessment, dramatically raising the cyber security posture of Federal Government at no cost to the Budget.

In a game-changing move, the Australian global SaaS ERP solution provider will transition all Federal Government shared services customers on its software as a service (SaaS) platform from “OFFICIAL: Sensitive” to the higher “PROTECTED” level, at no additional cost, and with no operational impact.

“PROTECTED” will become the default information security posture status from TechnologyOne for Federal Government agencies moving forward, providing a significant boost to Australia’s cybersecurity.

Ed Chung, TechnologyOne’s Chief Executive Officer said TechnologyOne’s IRAP PROTECTED assessment, along with their decision to extend it to all Federal Government customers, has come at a time when the cyber security of the nation is more important than ever.

“Our Federal Government customers will get access to a more secure service at no additional cost to the taxpayer, and we are confident that this is what Australia needs, and expects, of its homegrown technology companies.

“As an Australian citizen, as well as the CEO of an Australian company, it’s important to me that the data that the Federal Government holds in trust for us – such as personal financial data – will now be protected with an additional level of security,” Mr Chung said.

“Many agencies operate in both OFFICIAL and PROTECTED – often requiring two environments. We are pleased to be able to meet the unique, and specific needs of our Federal Government customers by removing this friction.

“The investment we’ve made over the past three years to reach IRAP PROTECTED assessment means we can offer this step change for the Government at no cost to them, and in doing so, we also raise the cyber security bar much higher for other technology vendors,” Mr Chung said.

According to Mr Alastair MacGibbon, Strategy Chief at CyberCX and previously the Head of Australian Cyber Security Centre, this is a strong contribution to uplifting the Government’s cyber security posture at a critical time for the nation.

“The more protected systems across government the better. In security, you’re only as strong as the weakest link. Smaller government agencies are exposed to the same risk and threats as their larger counterparts, but often have fewer resources to mitigate them.

“I applaud any company, particularly a sovereign Australian one, that is looking to raise security by design and default,” MacGibbon said.

Mr Chung said “IRAP PROTECTED, along with our pending DISP membership, will provide TechnologyOne’s Federal Government customers with a comprehensive cyber security posture covering people, process and technology.

“We have been a local Australian supplier to governments at all levels - federal, state and local - -for more than 30 years.  In that time, we’ve consistently invested in R&D to improve the service we offer and reinvented ourselves several times. It is this latest iteration - our Global SaaS ERP - that has enabled this important step on behalf of all Australians,” he said.