The vast majority of Federal Government websites have poor levels of encryption, putting the private details of taxpayers at risk, an independent audit finds. <\/p>\n
An audit of the websites by two independent systems administrators found only four government websites out of more than 850 fully protected visitor communications. <\/p>\n
The results have surprised other internet security experts who said the Government needed to beef up their levels of encryption. <\/p>\n
Last year, while standing in Australia's new cyber security centre in Canberra, Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced Australia's internet security policies would be put under scrutiny. <\/p>\n
The cyber security centre had been announced the year before by former prime minister Julia Gillard, who promised a \"world class\" facility to tackle a growing overseas cyber threat. <\/p>\n
But it appears not all cyber issues are being looked at, as the two system administrators found when they reviewed the encryption capabilities of Federal Government websites. <\/p>\n
After retrieving a list of more than 850 government domains via a Freedom of Information request, the pair scanned and reviewed the security of each of those websites. <\/p>\n
They were looking for the basics, such as whether the site encrypted communications between the server and the user, similar to the way Twitter, Facebook or banks do. <\/p>\n
And if they did provide encryption, the pair wanted to know if the sites used the latest software to protect against vulnerabilities or known weak encryption ciphers. <\/p>\n
\"Ninety per cent of the sites had no security at all,\" Ashley Hull, one of the those behind the security scan said. <\/p>\n
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