Safeguarding Australia from cyber-terrorism a proposed cyber-terrorism SCADA risk framework for Australia

Terrorist groups are currently using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to orchestrate their conventional attacks. More recently, terrorists have been developing a new form of capability within the cyber-arena to coordinate cyber-based attacks. This thesis identifies that cyber-terrorism capabilities are an integral, imperative, yet under-researched component in establishing, and enhancing cyber-terrorism risk assessment models for SCADA systems. The thesis characterises the Australian national security and terrorism environment and discusses the vulnerability of Australian computer systems including critical infrastructure Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. It also discusses the cyber-capability of various terrorist groups and proposes a cyber-terrorism SCADA capability model which can be used by organisations to measure and assess the level of cyber-capability required to carry out a cyberterrorist attack against SCADA systems within Australia. Likewise, various risk evaluation methods and standards are examined which can be used by organisations to evaluate the vulnerabilities and risks associated with cyber-terrorism. The thesis proposes a high level managerial framework that has been developed to measure and protect SCADA systems from the threat of cyber-terrorism within Australia. This cyber-terrorism SCADA risk framework forms the main basis of this research and has been validated and examined by three focus group interviews. The findings and results from the focus group interviews have demonstrated the need for new counter-terrorism security models to assist organisations with assessing new cyber security threats such as cyber-terrorism.