Australia Creates Cyberwarfare Unit

An anonymous reader writes "Australia's Federal Government computer emergency response team and other spy agencies are teaming up to create a cyberspooks unit to counter threats from other countries, the nation's chief lawmaker said last night. In a speech referencing Stuxnet and GhostNet, Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the unit would protect sensitive Australian Government and business information from espionage by the nation's foes. Recently new powers were handed to spymasters to deal with the enhanced security threat that the Greens party said were 'excessive.'"

Comments

OK.

[msauve]

"the unit would protect sensitive Australian Government and business information from espionage by the nation's foes."

Those darn Kiwis.

Foreign powers aren't the problem

[Lord_of_the_nerf]

Robert McClelland's problem isn't countering cyber-threats from other countries.

His office has trouble understanding cyber-threats from other countries.

*UGH* How pitifully hysterical

[countertrolling]

Bunch of school girls jumping up on their chairs when they see a mouse. If they could only see themselves.

Re:*UGH* How pitifully hysterical

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Unfortunately, these hysterical schoolgirls are jumping up on chairs and obtaining new surveillance powers...

While political entities are not free of common human foibles, it is generally safer to view them as actors value-rationally emulating the set of outputs that is most likely to get them what they want, rather than assume that their outputs actually correlate with their internal states...

Re:English, motherfucker! Do you speak it?

[Psychotria]

Recently new powers were handed spymasters to deal with the enhanced security threat that the Greens party said were 'excessive.'"

Because when the Greens party says an enhanced security threat is excessive, you know the new powers won't be able to deal with it unless we hand them spymasters!

(Is a apymaster kinda like a viewmaster, you know, those old stereoscope-wheel gadgets?)

I was handed a new spymaster; it's much better than my old one and I am now comfortable in knowing that I am a new power. My old spymaster only took 35mm film -- with this new one I can gaze into a fictional world with such clarity and definition that you'd think it was real.

Re:English, motherfucker! Do you speak it?

[Psychotria]

I should also note that recently I've taken up the habit of wearing my panties and bra on the outside of my clothing, so my "new power" status is unsurprising even though I am a male. I also agree with the Greens that the enhanced security threat are excessive.

Re:English, motherfucker! Do you speak it?

[BluBrick]

Up the arse of spy's what?
This in a thread titled "English, motherfucker! Do you speak it?" - Irony, thou art a merciless bitch!

Re:Grammar and Yanks...

[David at Eeyore]

Be kind to folk from the US. Their dialect of English broke away from the mainstream a long time ago, and they have kept many forms and regional linguistic quirks from the time of their first settlement by English-speaking people. We in the south (AU/NZ) have kept closer to conventional English, despite colourful usage and NZ vowel shifts...