An Intelligent(ce) Idea to Counter Threats to Critical Infrastructure

In response to the greatest number of cyber-attacks ever against Australian industry in 2022, Australia needs to rally together its best and brightest intelligence thinkers to boost the intelligence capabilities of industry.

The launch of CI-ISAC Australia this week does this by enabling a number of bold new initiatives that will provide a rallying point for action. The first of such initiatives is the formal collaboration arrangement between the Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers (AIPIO) and the Critical Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Centre, Australia (CI-ISAC Australia). Both not-for-profit organisations were established for the development and professionalisation of intelligence and the protection from harm of the public and private sector linked to critical infrastructure.

AIPIO was founded in 1990 as Australia’s ‘Peak Body’ for the nation’s intelligence professionals, and the evolution of cyber threats and cyber as a specialisation in the intelligence profession means there is a natural synergy between the missions of both AIPIO and CI-ISAC. For this reason, a formal memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between AIPIO and CI-ISAC in November 2022 to ensure that Australia’s professional intelligence officers have a direct channel to engage CI-ISAC industry members across the SOCI Act prescribed subsectors of the economy to collaborate on intelligence matters.

The AIPIO and CI-ISAC MoU is a holistic commitment to harness the strength and diversity of our nation’s intelligence professionals to support critical infrastructure owners and operators who may not otherwise have the human or financial resources available to have their own in-house intelligence and cyber threat intelligence experts or teams. The provisions of the MoU are broad, based on the principle of reciprocity, and express the wishes of each organisation to have access to respective members functions and seminars. The MoU supports the strengthening of each organisation through the sharing of information and cross-promotion across multiple areas of engagement.

The relationship to uplift critical infrastructure (CI) intelligence capabilities will be operationalised through an array of activities detailed in the AIPIO/CI-ISAC ‘Heads of Agreement’ that include but are not limited to:

·?development of regular information and knowledge exchange activities based on need

·?appointing liaison officers from each organisation to the other organisation

·?collaborating on research and analysis and affirming the affiliation in appropriate publications

·?sharing publications to lift awareness and knowledge of intelligence matters relating to CI

·?offering member discounts on the other organisations member conferences and events

· offering access to special interest group meetings and local events (CoIs, workshops etc.)

· research projects & publications, industry promotion, interactions with educational institutions

A number of CI-ISAC's leadership team are members of AIPIO and have a mixture of professional military and civilian intelligence experience.

CI-ISAC Australia would like to thank the AIPIO leadership team and specifically Dr Phil Kowalick for their strong support and commitment to working with CI-ISAC to support the rapid and effective uplift of intelligence capability and threat intelligence sharing among Australia's critical infrastructure owners and operators.