The Albanese government will appoint a Coordinator for Cyber Security who will be given new powers to protect Australians from mass cyberattacks.
The coordinator will be located within the Department of Home Affairs, with the exact nature of their powers to be decided upon following a roundtable of industry experts and department heads.
Cyberattacks targeting multiple data centers in several regions globally have been observed over the past year and a half, resulting in exfiltration of information pertaining to some of the world's biggest companies and the publishing of access credentials on the dark web, according to cybersecurity company Resecurity.
Fire and Rescue NSW Assistant Commissioner Trent Curtin says to ensure electrical device fire safety people should buy “reputable products” and follow instructions.
“Make sure you buy reputable products from good quality brands, that we follow the instructions – we don't overcharge them, use the right charger and don't leave them charging overnight,” Mr Curtin told Sky News host Chris Kenny.
The cost of retrofitting electric vehicle chargers in Sydney apartment buildings can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars and is proving to be a major barrier to owners adopting the technology, sparking calls for governments to boost subsidies.
So what's new? Wood's been around for long enough now, and we've been using it as a building material for centuries. Surely this isn't the first time someone’s realized it gets stronger the more you use it? Well… as you'd expect, the changing popularity of cross-laminated timber in construction does coincide with a greater understanding and focus on environmental causes, but the relationship hasn't always been positive.
Episode 85 - In this episode of the ASIAL Security Insider podcast, we speak with Cameron Smith, Director of the NSW Security Licensing & Enforcement Directorate (SLED) about impending changes to NSW Security Industry Legislation.
What are they? When will they come into effect and how will they impact you and your business?
The Design and Building Practitioners (D&BP) Act was enacted in June 2020, and established a new licensing and disciplinary framework for building practitioners involved in the design and construction of buildings in NSW. The D&BP Regulation 2021 details the rules for implementing the procedures of the Act and sets out specific requirements for licensing, registration and ongoing professional development required of building practitioners.
Graffiti is a form of vandalism that involves marking property with writing, tags, symbols or illustrations, generally without the consent of the property owner (Morgan & Lewis, 2020). Graffiti is perceived as a form of urban decay and a contributing element to the perception of a decrease in community safety and an increase in antisocial and criminal behaviours.
Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting networks, systems, and programs from digital attacks. These attacks usually aim to access, change, or destroy sensitive information, extort money from users, or interrupt normal business processes.
We are conditioned through schooling and university that there are right answers and wrong answers. That the culmination of all your efforts is an examination or test where the marker assesses your answers; they are right or wrong and based on these you pass or fail the subject.
Latest News from the Office of the Building Commissioner. Including: New compliance declaration requirements, Program Update: Project Remediate, New demolition licensing rules, and SafeWork NSW free workshops
This new registration scheme is part of a reform program to restore confidence in the residential construction industry and make sure that apartments being built are trustworthy.
Security begins at the Planning stage. During planning, a licensed security consultant can conduct a crime statistical survey of the neighbourhood and conduct a CPTED review of the proposed development. These CPTED measures include First Generation principles, which are focused on the physical built environment, and Second Generation principles, which focus on securing the site environment through social and community development.
Eight years after raising the national terrorism threat level, Australia recently lowered it again — from mid-range (probable) to low-range (possible).
Does this mean the threat from terrorism is over?
Few are better placed to answer this than Mike Burgess, Director-General of Security and head of ASIO, Australia's domestic intelligence agency.
New legislation will be introduced to tighten security at venues in the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing.
The new rules, dubbed Martyn's Law, will cover all of the UK and require venues and local authorities to have preventative action plans against terror attacks, the government said.
Martyn Hett was among 22 people killed in the 2017 attack and his mother Figen Murray has campaigned for the measures.
Draft legislation is due in early spring, the prime minister said.
Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) have released a draft technical information sheet for public consultation outlining considerations relating to a fire safety study (FSS) as per Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 2 (HIPAP No. 2) for facilities containing large-scale Lithium-ion battery energy storage systems (LiBESS). The document applies to facilities containing LiBESS greater than 200 kWh rated capacity located externally and not within a building.
Submissions close on 20/01/2023.
Considerations for LiBESS FSS include:
Large-scale LiBESS are a relatively new technology with a new risk profile that we have yet to fully understand.
FRNSW has initiated the Safety of Alternative and Renewable Energy Technologies (SARET) collaborative research program to inform emergency services’ preparedness and response to incidents involving these systems.
The objects of this Regulation are to amend the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021 to— (a) clarify powers and responsibilities of the Fire Commissioner, and (b) make provision for essential fire safety measures for a building to be addressed by a performance solution, and (c) make provision for the reissue of fire safety schedules, and (d) make provision for the Commissioner for Fair Trading to approve certain forms.
Update to the B&DC Reg regarding practice standards; amendments to some qualification & experience requirements and minor amendments due to repeal of certain legislation.
In particular reference is made to the following Practice Standards:
Includes amendments to the D&BP Reg making permanent the staged lodgement of declared designs where the application complies with both the updated requirements in the Practice Standard for certifiers & the Regulated Design Guidance Material.
Fire + Rescue NSW do not want your 'Ho Ho Ho' to turn into 'oh No No No' this Christmas.
Deniliquin Fire + Rescue NSW brigade is spreading the word on fire safety for the festive season, especially when it comes to those light up decorations we all love.
Two trends in recent years are combining to exacerbate insider threat risks at companies. First, companies continue to foster cultures of openness and collaboration that often run contrary to the needs of a security-oriented mindset. Second, the mainstreaming of hybrid work has made companies' control over data and device usage during work more tenuous.
Wired have written plenty about the threat that cyberattacks pose to power grids worldwide. But lately, the most significant attacks on electrical systems have demonstrated that hacking is hardly necessary when physical destruction and sabotage are an option: Just as Russia's invasion force in Ukraine has systematically destroyed electrical infrastructure to cause vast blackouts across the country, a mysterious and continuing series of physical attacks have hit power utilities in the American southeast—and in one case, have caused an extended outage for tens of thousands of people.
The attack on two power substations in North Carolina over the weekend is stoking concerns among grid experts that utilities are not doing enough to stave off physical threats to the electricity system.
But solutions to safeguard the grid may not be easy — or affordable — to implement.
Initiatives and grants to help revitalize the downtown core was the focus of a talk at Casa Tuesday by the City's Urban Revitalization manager Andrew Malcolm.
Malcolm gave a sparse audience a look at revitalization efforts in downtown with much of his talk focusing on the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design program.
This program, which was recently extended by city council in the 2023-24 budget with $50,000 annual funding, is aimed at supporting businesses in the downtown core that are dealing with costs due to increasing amounts of loitering, vandalism, and theft.
Dale Peterson, founder of the S4 conference, is one of the most experienced individuals on the planet when it comes to industrial cybersecurity. After a few years at the NSA as a cryptanalyst, he spent a decade focusing on financial cybersecurity before becoming fully engrossed in protecting the critical industrial control systems (ICS) in facilities like power plants, pipelines, medical facilities, and freshwater utilities.
Machine learning refers to the evolving ability of computer systems to learn and adapt without following explicit instructions. It essentially involves the use of algorithms and statistical models to analyze and draw conclusions from patterns in data.
We asked this week's Expert Panel Roundtable: What is the impact of machine learning (ML) on the security market?
Cybercrime is continuing to surge in Australia as gangs use increasingly sophisticated techniques to defraud and blackmail households, governments and businesses across the nation.
The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has launched its third annual threat report, revealing that it received over 76,000 cybercrime reports last financial year – a 13 per cent increase from the year before.
Millions of Australians have had their privacy breached in recent cyber attacks against Optus, Medibank and other companies.
Cybercriminals stole sensitive health and financial data that can be used for ransom, blackmail or fraud.
Medibank Private chief executive David Koczkar has defended the company’s handling of a damaging cyberattack amid growing fury from customers and investors over the spiralling data breach that has now affected more than 4 million Australians.
If you've provided Medibank Private or AHM with your Medicare number this may affect you.
The NSW Government's ambitious agenda for building legislation reform has taken another step forward, with the release of three Bills for public consultation as part of the Construct NSW transformation strategy which focuses on building “trustworthy buildings” which are fit for purpose in order to restore consumer confidence in the construction industry.
Ransomware remains the primary type of cyberattack targeting organizations, but the ransomware attack vector has shifted in 2022.
The State of the Threat Report from Secureworks found that cyber vulnerability exploitation in remote services has become the primary initial access vector (IAV) in ransomware attacks over the past year, accounting for 52% of ransomware incidents and overtaking the top spot from credential-based attacks from 2021.
In episode 6 of the IFSEC Global Security in Focus podcast, we hear from Dr Gavriel Schneider, CEO of Risk 2 Solution, as he explains ‘Presilience’ and how security professionals can improve their decision making in high-risk scenarios.
A string of new regulations are expected to be implemented by the Federal government following the Optus data leak saga.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers made the announcement on Thursday, saying the changes would aim to detect and mitigate the risks of cyber security frauds, scams and other malicious cyber activities.
A former policeman has killed dozens of people in a knife and gun rampage at a daycare centre in Thailand, before shooting dead his wife and child at their home and turning his weapon on himself, police say.
After an alarming spike in break-and-enters across Sydney, police have set up a new strike force targeting the perpetrators.
With plummeting costs and soaring efficiency, we are going to be seeing many, many more batteries over the next decade – especially big, grid level ones.
There are at least a dozen big batteries operating and dozens more under construction or announced around Australia. Because of their energy density, lithium-ion batteries are becoming much more common – which means that, while rare, battery fires are becoming more common too.
The introduction of the National Construction Code 2022 in May 2023 heralds the introduction of new quantified Performance Requirements in Volume 2. NCC 2022 H3P1 and H3P2 (BCA 2019: P2.3.1 and P2.3.2) now include quantified metrics for spread of fire and automatic warning of occupants.
With unprecedented changes in the workforce, employers are re-evaluating how to protect employees both on-site and remotely, establishing flexible methods of communication with a workforce that can be working in the office, working remotely, or both.
Stephane Nappo, VP Global Chief Information Security Officer at Société Générale posted: “Even the bravest cyber defense will experience defeat when weaknesses are neglected."Stephane Nappo, VP Global Chief Information Security Officer at Société Générale posted: “Even the bravest cyber defense will experience defeat when weaknesses are neglected."
We lead very busy lives and sometimes in our 'busy'-ness we lose sight of the important stuff. Too often, we feel we are overworked, tired, exhausted and too busy to do anything else. Days turn into weeks and weeks into years and we are stuck on this hamster wheel, giving it our all, but feeling like we are not getting anywhere.
As Optus weathers the fallout from the damaging data breach that exposed the personal details of 9.8 million customers, questions have been raised about how protected the data was to begin with.
So, how do companies protect the information of their customers?
Optus has suffered a massive cyber-attack, with the personal information of customers stolen, including names, dates of birth, addresses, and contact details.
The telco suffered the data breach when hackers, believed to be working for a criminal or state-sponsored organisation, accessed the sensitive information by breaking through the company’s firewall.
Reporting of minor crimes against property on Facebook community social media pages can make residents feel their neighbourhood is less safe, even when statistics show the actual rate of crime is low.
LastPass says the attacker behind the August security breach had internal access to the company's systems for four days until they were detected and evicted.
In an update to the security incident notification published last month, Lastpass' CEO Karim Toubba also said that the company's investigation (carried out in partnership with cybersecurity firm Mandiant) found no evidence the threat actor accessed customer data or encrypted password vaults.
Harris Farm has opened a new lavish store in Australia - boasting an in-house butcher and fishmonger, Messina parlour, build-a-cookie-pie station and 500 cheese varieties from around the world.
The Lane Cove outlet is a one-of-a-kind “upmarket grocery shop” in Sydney - offering shoppers more than just a standard supermarket.
Australians are being warned about a new scam which take control of your phone or laptop, if you click on one particular photo.
Photos captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope are being sent out via email, but they can be dangerous if opened.
The images are being used to disguise and distribute malware from hackers.
We have released the second stage preview of NCC 2022. Development of the 2022 edition of the NCC was split into two stages.
We published the first stage of NCC 2022 on 9 May 2022, but left the energy efficiency and condensation management provisions blank while we finalised those parts.
These new measures have now been agreed to by Building Ministers, so now we’re releasing them as a second stage preview of NCC 2022.
The National Transportation Safety Board issued four safety recommendations Wednesday based on findings contained in Safety Report 20/01 which documents the agency’s investigation of four electric vehicle fires involving high-voltage, lithium-ion battery fires.
Over 80% of ransomware incidents can be traced back to misconfigured cloud services, untested security tools, and the enablement of macros.
The vast majority of ransomware attacks begin with cyber criminals exploiting common cybersecurity errors, which – if correctly managed – could prevent most victims from falling prey to attacks.
Cyber Security minister Clare O'Neil has tasked her department with re-casting the cyber security strategy initiated by the former government.
A spokesperson for the minister told iTnews the government wants a more consultative approach to building the strategy.
It's just been revealed that the song has the power to crash particular models of laptops, and it has now been recognized as a cybersecurity vulnerability.
As reported by The Reg, the strange tale comes from a Microsoft devblog by Raymond Chen. He writes that a colleague shared a story from Windows XP product support about how Jackson's track would crash certain models of laptops when it was played within proximity of the device.
A company that supplies water to more than 1.5 million people in the UK disclosed it was hit by a cyberattack in an incident security experts said highlighted potentially dangerous vulnerabilities in the country's critical infrastructure.
Sydney's newest $20 million-plus beachside apartment penthouses have finally been put back up for sale after they were abruptly pulled off the market eight months ago in a row with the NSW Building Commissioner over fire regulations.
The two penthouses were built on top of a seven-level 1960s building in Tamarama as part of an ambitious scheme for their sale to finance the $50 million renovation and refurbishment of the entire 78-apartment block.
Timber skyscrapers up to 50 storeys tall may soon dot Australian skylines in a push to decarbonise and revitalise urban construction.
Three separate plans have been submitted to build hybrid timber buildings in Perth and Sydney between 180 metres and 220 metres high.
Cybercrime Squad detectives are reminding mobile phone users to remain vigilant, after a spike in reports by victims of an emerging scam dubbed the 'Hi Mum' scam.
The scam involves the offender sending a text message from an unknown mobile phone number to a person on a messaging application claiming to be their son or daughter.
Paul Haskell-Dowland has been in the cybersecurity education and research domain for two decades — and he is on a mission to teach the rest of us how to stay safe online.
It's a significant job for the Professor of Cyber Security Practice at Edith Cowan University.
The cost of cybercrime in Australia is incredibly high, though the figure is likely even greater than the reported data suggests.
If you aren't yet aware that there are major changes coming to how you build, or the materials you can use, then now is the time to engage with HIA about what you need to know. We’re at the stage where the majority of NCC 2022 amendments have now been confirmed.
This means you will need to prepare yourself ahead of these taking effect. HIA will be undertaking activities over the next 12-24 months to support members to know what’s changing and what to do with your next building projects.
The emergence of artificial intelligence that uses cameras to check for health and safety breaches in the workplace has raised concerns about a creeping culture of workplace surveillance and a lack of protections for workers.
You walk into a shopping centre to buy some groceries. Without your knowledge, an electronic scan of your face is taken by in-store surveillance cameras and stored in an online database. Each time you return to that store, your "faceprint" is compared with those of people wanted for shoplifting or violence.
This might sound like science fiction but it's the reality for many of us. By failing to take our digital privacy seriously – as former human rights commissioner Ed Santow has warned – Australia is "sleepwalking" its way into mass surveillance.
Buying an off-the-plan apartment has turned into an expensive, lengthy legal battle for Melbourne woman Tamara Railton-Stewart, and she is not alone.
"I had no idea of the disaster of that decision," Ms Railton-Stewart said.
She told ABC 7.30 her apartment in Melbourne's south-east, completed in 2015, was so riddled with defects it had to be gutted and was only recently rebuilt.
Australian retail giants Bunnings and Kmart are being investigated over their use of facial recognition technology in stores, amid privacy concerns.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner [OAIC] has confirmed it has launched an investigation after it was revealed the stores were using the technology without the knowledge of customers.
Provisions for development certification and fire safety requirements are now located in the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021.
These provisions are jointly administered by the Minister for Fair Trading and the Minister for Planning.
We're providing a series of articles to give you a snap shot of some changes that may impact your work when NCC 2022 is adopted by states and territories.
Open up the NCC, and we'll step you through some of the key changes to fire safety for NCC 2022. Remember, NCC 2022 also has a new referencing system. We've included both the new and the previous NCC 2019 references, to help you identify what has changed.
What should you be doing to prevent or mitigate property damage, injuries and deaths at your institution? Learn more about the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).
Childcare Facilities serve a critical role within our communities. By providing their services, these centres enable working parents to attend to their vocational needs, thus functioning as a small but critical component in driving the economy. Childcare centres are founded and run-on trust, where care is at the very heart of their service offering.
Childcare facilities present unique challenges when it comes to managing fire risks and meeting the goals of fire safety within these properties. These types of facilities are used primarily for assembly use (Class 9b).
Every organisation possesses a level of established resources that can be associated with certain value. Regardless of how well the organisation is secured on the exterior, there will always be the possibility of an internal threat that creates a risk of compromise.
In our previous newsletter, we introduced the concept of 'Interthinking' as defined by Littleton & Mercer (2013) in their seminar publication with the same title. We highlighted the importance of 'Exploratory' talk as the basis upon which meetings could achieve interthinking and consequently innovation and problem-solving through collaboration.
The owners of four wind farms in South Australia and the state's big Tesla battery have been fined more than $4 million over two separate breaches identified during major grid disturbances.
As George Dionisopoulos, Head of Security at Australian data centre provider NEXTDC, explains, there is little doubt that the data centre market is witnessing significant growth, in line with the development of cloud-based services. There is also an awareness that data centres are now an integral part of a country’s critical national infrastructure – whether formally recognised or not – and only high-quality security solutions and risk management strategies will suffice.
IFSEC Global was lucky enough to sit down with George, alongside Barkers Fencing’s Adam Savage, at IFSEC International in May, to find out more about the unique challenges that come with securing such facilities and why partnerships are crucial to an organisational security strategy.
The first stage of NCC 2022 'Preview' is here. So, what are the main changes?
The NCC 2022 is here, and there is a lot to get across. Here’s an overview of some of the main updates to help you get across the content before it comes into effect.
State-backed hacking groups are some of the most advanced cyberattack operations in the world - but criminals don't need to rely on them if they can exploit unpatched cybersecurity flaws.
AIBS in conjunction with the Master Electricians Association has developed information supporting members who are seeking to understand how to verify the compliance of design and installation of interconnected smoke alarms where these are required to be installed.
Acting Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell is appealing to the public to take extra safety precautions after a spate of recent house fires across the state.
Selecting fires safety measures for road tunnels relies mainly on strict regulatory requirements. However, the choice should also be based on many different criteria and ranking of alternatives should take place. Existing methods exhibit lack in dealing rigorously with measures' selection amongst different alternatives. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by proposing a novel method, named EVADE, which aims to incorporate diverse stakeholders' views and provide a meaningful ranking of alternatives.
In recent decades, addressing the issue of crime prevention has led to the application of CPTED in many industrialized counties. In Korea and in major cities throughout Asia, high-rise apartments have become the main form of housing, making crime prevention by Natural Surveillance extremely challenging.
Australia has more than 3,400 buildings with flammable cladding. In Victoria alone, at least 71 of these buildings have been classified as “extreme risk” and another 368 as “high risk”. Despite the tragic evidence of the risks of cladding fires, rectification work had been completed on only 11 of these buildings by February 2021.
Amendments have been made to the Design & Building Practitioners Regulation. Most of the amendments commenced 2 March 2022.
Risk assessments are used to inform decision-making in hazardous systems. The process involves highly technical steps such as quantifying uncertainty and it is typically carried out by subject matter experts with a robust engineering background. The process also involves value-loaded steps such selecting the risk acceptance criteria for evaluating the risks.
More than one-quarter of the reported fires in 2015–2019 (26 percent) occurred in home environments. In addition, three-quarters of the civilian fire deaths (75 percent) and almost three-quarters of the reported civilian fire injuries (72 percent) during that time period were caused by home structure fires.
The facts and figures uncovered in the ongoing Grenfell Tower inquiry and other investigations, continue to shock. An initial key finding of the inquiry’s first report in 2019 was that the external cladding that surrounded Grenfell Tower was largely responsible for the fire spreading so quickly.
Since the fire, over 400 other high rise buildings surveyed around the country have been found to have external wall materials similar to those used on Grenfell Tower. Several more recent tower block fires also show serious fire hazards in high-rise buildings remain.
This study tested whether a police-led initiative providing a CPTED (Crime Prevention by Environmental Design) intervention to residential burglary victims reduced revictimisation.
The Pueblo Fire Department is partnering with the American Red Cross to install more than a thousand smoke alarms in homes in Pueblo, which has been selected as the main city for this year's nationwide Sound the Alarm home fire safety campaign.
The two organizations are looking for around 100 volunteers to help install smoke detectors in homes and spread fire safety information around Pueblo in May.
A former teacher says he has been left "heartbroken" by the destruction of a historic school building that was once the home of pioneering pastoralist Sir Sidney Kidman, but has now been gutted by fire.
The former mansion at Kapunda in South Australia's lower north dates back to 1879, and was purchased about 20 years later by Kidman.
The Victorian planning minister has approved a 33-turbine wind farm in the state's south-east despite community concerns it may pose a fire risk.
Osmi Australia will start building the wind farm next year among pine tree plantations near Delburn in the Strezlecki ranges, which borders three Gippsland shires.
Surveillance cameras have an identity problem, fuelled by an inherent tension between utility and privacy. As these powerful little devices have cropped up seemingly everywhere, the use of machine learning tools has automated video content analysis at a massive scale — but with increasing mass surveillance, there are currently no legally enforceable rules to limit privacy invasions.
A parked Ola S1 Pro electric scooter caught fire in Pune late last week, raising concerns over the safety of electric vehicles. The company said it has launched an investigation to understand the “root cause”.
“We are aware of an incident in Pune that happened with one of our scooters and are investigating to understand the root cause and will share more updates in the next few days,” Ola Electric said in a statement.
NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts scrapped a requirement to consider the risks of floods and fires before building new homes only two weeks after it came into effect and while the state was reeling from a deadly environmental disaster.
Mr Roberts last week revoked a ministerial directive by his predecessor Robert Stokes outlining nine principles for sustainable development, including managing the risks of climate change, a decision top architects have branded “short-sighted” and hard to understand.
Whether you live in a single-family home, a condo, or an apartment, when CPTED principals are used together they can provide an effective defence mechanism. Criminals do not like to be seen or heard; so when you reduce places to hide, light-up dark areas, and reduce opportunities for easy access, you've successfully hardened your target.
As electric vehicles (EVs) become more prevalent, the chances of encountering an EV (or late-model hybrid) fire incident increase. Many challenges lie in store when an EV that has a high-voltage (HV) lithium-ion (li-ion) battery is involved in fire.
When HV batteries utilized nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) for their internal cells, as all of the early hybrids did, fire suppression was rather similar to what we expect from a burning internal combustion engine vehicle. For more than 10 years’ worth of hybrid vehicle fires, these original small, accessible HV batteries responded well to our conventional vehicle fire attack techniques.
The school security landscape has dramatically shifted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Video surveillance remains a critical tool in protecting the K-12 community, with U.S. schools investing over $360 million in physical security equipment in 2020.
Are you fire safe in the home?
The fire services recommend this simple safety checklist to assist in keeping your home fire safe.
The early concepts of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) were considered in the U.S. in the early 1960s and helped form a new construct for criminologists and architects to work together to create and maintain safer communities. Consistent with this new idea of managing the built environment, architect Oscar Newman set into motion the concept of “defensible space” in the late 1960s. In 1971, building upon the work of Newman, Jane Jacobs, and others, Florida State University criminologist C. Ray Jeffery, originated the term CPTED in his definitive book Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.
The BCA Deemed-to-Satisfy (DtS) Provisions stipulate that for Class 9a healthcare and 9c aged care buildings, and for all buildings above an effective height of 25m, the doors from fire-isolated exits must not be locked from the inside. This requirement to allow re-entry into the building from the fire isolated exit imposes considerable challenges with regard to security risks, where re-entry from fire isolated exits could allow anyone to enter any space within these buildings once they have entered the fire isolated exit.
On 1 January 2022 two new regulations were implemented to replace the existing NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (EP&A Reg 2000) which has been utilised by the building industry for more than 20 years.
The proliferation of building defects and issues that owners and owners’ corporations had to deal with culminated in the Shergold Weir Building Confidence Report in 2018, and the subsequent response from the NSW Government led to the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020. With the introduction of a statutory duty of care, the Design and Building Practitioners Act and Regulation, amongst its other objectives, aims to ensure that suitably qualified designers were signing off on the job.
Ransom is an old crime that has taken on a new form in ransomware. The Australian Cyber Security Centre defines ransomware as “a type of malicious software (malware)” that gets onto your device and makes it unusable (ACSC). How it works is not too far off the television and movie depiction of the concept of ransom. On an otherwise uneventful morning, you wake up to see that you have lost access to all your data.
A side effect of the pandemic was the mass migration of meetings to online exchanges and the era of back-to-back Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet calls. Meetings can be time consuming and, in many instances, unproductive and distracting from your core job function. But meetings can be where the magic happens, where creativity is sparked, ideas built upon and outcomes achieved. This is where this concept of interthinking can become a powerful tool for managers to employ.
The average business receives 10,000 alerts every day from the various software tools it uses to monitor for intruders, malware and other threats. Cybersecurity staff often find themselves inundated with data they need to sort through to manage their cyber defences.
The stakes are high. Cyberattacks are increasing and affect thousands of organizations and millions of people in the U.S. alone.
The government gave no consideration to life safety when publishing “confusing” new guidance for cladding systems in the early 2000s, the Grenfell Inquiry has heard.
Tuesday's hearing was told how ministers had started to introduce tougher European standards into British guidance in 2002 with a planned transition period of three years.
Situational crime prevention focuses on the settings where crime occurs, rather than on those committing specific criminal acts. The emphasis is on managerial and environmental change that reduces opportunities for crimes to occur (Clarke, 1997). Situational crime prevention is based on two related theories.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today that the hack disclosed last month against its servers was a targeted attack likely coordinated by a state-backed hacking group.
During the incident, the attackers gained access to the personal information (names, locations, and contact information) of over 515,000 people in the "Restoring Family Links" program that helps reunite families separated by war, disaster, and migration.
A good night's sleep has always been linked to better mood, and better health. Now, scientists have even more evidence of just how much sleep – and more specifically our circadian rhythm, which regulates our sleep cycle – is linked to certain diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. A team of researchers from the United States have found further evidence that the cells which help keep the brain healthy and prevent Alzheimer's disease also follow a circadian rhythm.
The government “hobbled” a group of fire safety experts appointed to spot flaws in building regulations because of a culture of deregulation, the Grenfell Inquiry has heard.
Ministers gave the Building Research Establishment (BRE) “investigation of real fires project” a “contractual requirement” not to make any policy recommendations.
David Crowder, former head of fire investigation at the BRE, told Wednesday’s hearing that the group's reports were limited to pointing out “implications” raised by building fires.
The NSW Cladding Taskforce was established to identify buildings with potentially combustible cladding and support local councils to address the use of non-compliant cladding materials. The Taskforce audited 185,000 building records and to date 4182 buildings have been inspected.
Not all cladding is dangerous. There are a number of factors which are considered when determining whether cladding on a building may pose a higher risk including the total coverage, vertical coverage, positioning around balconies, windows or doors, as well as the types of building and the way it is used.
The International CPTED Association's 2021 Conference was held in Helsingborg Sweden, inviting guests from around the globe to attend both in person and virtually. While the Lote team was unable to physically attend the conference, we were thrilled to present our ideas virtually. Dr Maher Magrabi and Zachariah Reisch gave this presentation on CPTED and its role in the management of the Australian Development Approvals process - you can watch the full video via the button below.
The Fire & Security India Expo is an evolving platform which brings together parties interested in the development of passive, active, and organisational fire safety and security management solutions. Dr Amer Magrabi presented at the 2021 expo, strengthening vital international cooperation by providing an Australian legislative perspective to the discussion.
Online activity continues to grow in volume and sophistocation, with internet connectivity being a ubiquitous component of both our business and personal lives. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the efficacy and ingenuity of abusers of the online space also continues to evolve to take advantage of this reality. So what can you do to protect your business and personal information?
You don't need to have a cybersecurity degree in order to keep your information safe - all you need is to be informed and follow basic computer safety practices. Previous columns have addressed issues such as Phishing (so take a look at those too), but this column will focus on effective and simple password management you can use in the coming year and beyond.
As some members will know, the NSW Government has recently released the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021 (the Regulation).
The Regulation is relevant for registered certifiers and will commence on 1 January 2022, and therefore it is important that all members are across the relatively minor changes made by the Regulation.
2022 is the year of the breach, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), but last year was no prize either, according to the group's 16th annual Data Breach Report for 2021.
The good news is that the number of individuals who were hit by security breaches in 2021 declined for the third year to 293 million, down from a record high of 2.2 billion in 2018.
The problem is that the percentage of breaches that included the theft of sensitive data like Social Security numbers was up from 80% to 83% year over year, though that was down from 2017's stunning 95%.
A scary backdoor is out there right now, targeting Windows, Linux, and macOS. This SysJoker malware is so frightening because it’s very good at evading detection, giving it the ability to do damage without the user noticing.
Basically, variants are designed to target either Linux, Windows, or MacOS. It creates a series of files and registry commands that eventually allows it to install other malware, run commands on the infected device, or command the backdoor to remove itself.
The Queensland Police Service (QPS) Crime Prevention Programs Unit (CPPU) is pleased to launch updated crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) guidelines for Queensland.
The purpose of the guidelines are to address the changing needs of Queensland communities informing the work of councils, professions, and the development industry.
With IoT botnets continuing to cause problems and attacks on critical infrastructure an ongoing menace, Microsoft has conducted research to find out whether edge network devices are a threat to enterprise systems.
A survey of 615 IT, IT security and OT security practitioners across the United States found that 51% of OT networks are connected to corporate IT networks.
Some 88% of respondents said their business IoT devices are connected to the internet for things like cloud-printing services while 56% reported devices on their OT network were connected for remote access.
The two may seem to have little to do with each other, but deep in the bowels of the Lucas Heights nuclear facilities a team of scientists is building the firefighting uniform of the future, specifically for Australian conditions.
They have fashioned an ultra-light fireproof material that could revolutionise firefighting gear and protect household items with a simple coating, and after nearly six years of research are ready to commercialise their invention.
The continued rise of E-commerce, spurred on at least in part by COVID-19 lockdowns, is set to drive another record year of industrial property development – primarily storage warehouses and production facilities. At the same time, transport and storage of Dangerous Goods remains a risk; with these goods causing ~30% of international shipping incidents, and global calls for safety reform.
This article will cover concerns relating to security and fire safety design for industrial developments, including warehouses, as well as concerns arising from Dangerous Goods in these contexts, and considerations for their transport and storage.
The June 2021 release of Volume 1 of the Manchester Arena Inquiry Report presents an example of an attack on a crowded place, and with it a number of recommendations and lessons. This article aims to summarise some of these recommendations and draw out action points to asset owners, operators and event organisers.
A shift in the attack vectors utilised by malicious parties has occurred, from IT systems to the end user themself. The focus placed on the human element as a target has allowed these bad actors to tap into the power of social engineering – whereby the vulnerability in the system becomes exploitable features of human psychology, rather than technological channels. Businesses need to evolve to counter this threat, as every organisation is vulnerable to a certain extent – and many are critically ill-prepared.
Lote Consulting offers end to end risk management services for the lifecycle of Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects during planning, design, construction as well as the operation and maintenance phase.
The challenge of managing quarantine requirements for overseas travellers or returning Australian citizens has created an urgent demand for purpose built COVID-19 quarantine facilities over the course of the pandemic. This article examines some of the Security and Fire Safety considerations necessary for the site, as well as implications for mandatory quarantine related to governmental duty of care responsibilities.
The upcoming National Construction Code (NCC) 2022 will impose significant changes to the current Building Code of Australia (BCA) 2019 Amendment 1. This article provides a brief summary for some of these changes which are expected to be adopted by 1st of September 2022.
This abstract outlines a study on the effectiveness of cavity barriers in multi-story buildings. The function of a cavity barrier is to provide a fire blocker in the cavities located within the external walls of multi-story buildings, which assist to mitigate vertical fire spread.
The main goal of the research referred to by this abstract is to determine if the installation of cavity barriers is effective in stopping vertical fire spread on buildings that incorporate combustible building elements along the facade, such as aluminium composite panels (ACP) with a combustible core.
This abstract identifies some of the benefits of conducting a probabilistic assessment of office spaces that are already compliant with the BCA, as well as outlining some shortcomings of this type of approach.
Ultimately the full paper will aim to highlight the value of combining probabilistic assessments with an evacuation analysis to more accurately determine the 'real-world' risk to life in the event of a fire, beyond simple 'yes or no' compliance with BCA Standards.
The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) has recently released a new Standard for Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), ISO 22341:2021 - Security and resilience — Protective security — Guidelines for crime prevention through environmental design.
While we recommend that anyone involved in development review the information within themselves, we at Lote have gone through the Standard to provide an informal summary of key ideas within, as well as our thoughts on its overall effectiveness as a representative Standard for CPTED more generally.
Sustainability and Environmental Protection underlie massive shifts in the energy industry and waste management. This article explores these sectors and sheds light on security considerations that need to be taken into account during development projects. It also provides a summary of security and risk considerations for planners and project managers involved in renewable energy and waste management projects.
The Federal Government introduced the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 in early December 2020, banning the export of unprocessed waste overseas. This legislation is expected to provide a stimulus to reconfigure local infrastructure to reprocess and re-manufacture recyclables onshore in Australia. This article sheds light on fire safety considerations for the growing number of waste management facilities being established around Australia.
The National Construction Code (NCC) Building Code of Australia (BCA) puts significant emphasis on the fire and smoke separation in a Class 9c Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACF). This article explores the Fire & Life Safety regulation surrounding aged Care developments.
The current Transport Access Program (TAP) is a NSW Government project to upgrade public train stations to meet the requirements of the federal Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (DSAPT). The Standards set out the minimum requirements for accessibility on public transport and ensure that people with disability have appropriate access to those public transport services.
As NSW becomes more interconnected and densely populated, its needs for transport infrastructure will continue to grow. With numerous road, rail and airport projects being funded in the coming years, many are concerned with the cost, efficacy, or political buying-power of such undertakings. Amidst the storms around these projects lies an issue often overlooked – with an exponentially complex transportation system being developed over the coming years, how should their designers and operators best approach the issue of security?
Vehicle technology is evolving quickly, with autonomous cars now a reality, and with an increasing proportion of hybrid and electric vehicles on the road. Such innovation can bring many advantages in the management of traffic flow and the reduction of emissions. However, innovative vehicles can present significant risks to road users, particularly in tunnels. A good understanding of the sources of these risks, and how to mitigate them is essential for manufacturers, designers, tunnel owners and operators, as well as for the fire service.
As a part of Lote's ongoing commitment to the dissemination of information that makes our industry smarter and safer, we have developed a new informational video regarding the legal framework of security in NSW. This short video provides an understanding of the requirements for those providing security services and is useful for anyone who engages with security consultants, or indeed security consultants themselves who may be unclear about licensing requirements and the risks of operating without the appropriate accreditations.
Data centre security can be defined as the operational practices and technologies that are employed to safeguard the data centre from external threats and vulnerabilities. The growth of Cloud Computing, Software as a Service, and Platforms as a Service has driven the growth of physical data centres. Being a physical asset, on-shore data centres are also a critical component in national infrastructure. Data centres are the physical facility that houses Information Technology (IT) infrastructure comprising computing, storage, networking, and power resources. As these data centres store sensitive and/or proprietary information that may include customer data and valuable intellectual property, cyber and physical security is paramount to its operation. This article will focus on physical elements of data centre security.
The reliance on cloud-based data storage and increasing demand for supplying energy from alternative sources has seen a dramatic increase in the use of Lithium-Ion battery based Energy Storage Systems (ESS). One common application for ESS are data centres to help cater for the increased demand for cloud-based data storage. One of the fundamental requirements of a cloud-based data centre is business continuity via zero downtime requirements. ESS are mandatory, to provide continuous data centre operation during a power outage. Lithium-Ion based ESS are prone to thermal runaway leading to the production of flammable gases and subsequent uncontrollable combustion. The additional ESS fire risks are not readily covered by the Deemed-to-Satisfy (DtS) provisions of the Building Code of Australia (BCA), Furthermore, ESS trigger the application of BCA Clause E1.10 - Provision for Special Hazards which prescribes that additional provision must be made if special problems of fighting fire could arise because of the nature or quantity of materials stored, displayed or used in a building or on the allotment; or the location of the building in relation to a water supply for fire-fighting purposes.
The past few months have seen an already teetering Australian aged care industry go from bad to worse as many RACFs were the site of deadly outbreaks - and given the negligence turned up in light of these outbreaks, it appears regulatory bodies have a long way to go before the industry is at an acceptable standard. This article explores the current state of Australian aged care in July 2020 and outlines a path forward that allows construction industry specialists to benefit from the work in this sector while also healing its broken core in the process.
Lote's commitment to maintaining our standards on deliverables has enabled us to evolve and maintain our service despite the circumstances. To this effect, Lote acted pre-emptively and decisively to implement measures such as social distancing and working from home, while remaining vigilant about our client projects, stakeholder engagement, site inspections and delivery timelines.
The planning system in New South Wales (NSW) includes building regulation and certification. A key part of this is sustainable development and ensuring that buildings are safe and meet all the performance expectations, both at the time of construction and throughout their effective life cycle.
Building Code of Australia 2019 (BCA) Clause C1.9 put an end to the use of combustible materials on building facades in an explicit fashion. Although this has been an implicit requirement since BCA 1996 or earlier. Recent cladding incidents such as the Grenfell Fire and the Lacrosse Fire have necessitated further clarification and a dedicated clause BCA C1.9. Clause C1.9 has generated considerable controversy and discussion due to its application retrospectively to existing buildings and current projects in construction.
Building Code of Australia 2019 (BCA) Clause C1.9 put an end to the use of combustible materials on building facades in an explicit fashion. Although this has been an implicit requirement since BCA 1996 or earlier. Recent cladding incidents such as the Grenfell Fire and the Lacrosse Fire have necessitated further clarification and a dedicated clause BCA C1.9. Clause C1.9 has generated considerable controversy and discussion due to its application retrospectively to existing buildings and current projects in construction.
The expansion in the use of Lithium Ion batteries has become a challenge for attending Fire Fighters. Battery Systems have been introduced into the Building Code of Australia (BCA) 2019 as a defined term with provisions based on a minimum size of system. However, based on the large-scale testing of Energy Storage Systems (ESS) undertaken by FM Global consideration should still be given to ESS containing banks of Lithium Ion batteries in the form of spacing, compartmentation and sprinkler operation. A holistic performance-based fire safety approach approach is warranted taking into consideration Building Code of Australia (BCA), Dangerous Goods Storage & Handling and Special Fire Hazard requirements.
Governments across the world are struggling to keep up with the growing threat of cybercrime and the evolving techniques used by its practitioners. Australian law enforcement faces numerous challenges in its response to the transnational nature of cybercrime, the evolution of technologies in encryption and the widespread distribution of computing and cloud computing.