Critical Analysis of Cybersecurity Policies, Legislation, and Advocacy

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of cybersecurity policies and legislation, emphasizing the importance of adapting laws to the evolving digital landscape. It addresses key issues such as cyber terrorism, online privacy, and the need for robust risk management strategies. The essay explores existing legislation like the Cyber Security Strategy and the Privacy Act, highlighting areas requiring modification to protect internet users and regulate online transactions. It discusses advocacy skills, including research and public participation, as crucial tools for shaping effective policies. The author emphasizes the necessity of a multi-faceted approach involving government, businesses, and the public to ensure a safe and secure cyber environment, proposing solutions such as a review of the Cyber Security Strategy and the establishment of a National Security Centre. The essay underscores the need for continuous research and adaptation to address emerging cyber threats and protect the rights of individuals and organizations in the digital age.

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Institution
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Policy and legislation is vital in any society. In any society it is vital to consider the policies
and legislation that is put in place for there to be coordination and fairness. Corporate policies
include information regarding, the Disability Action Plan, recruitment, risk management, the
environmental policy and diversity in the workplace (Eleweke, 2009). Legislation includes
the statutes in place created by the legislature for the federal or national purpose. Advocacy
skills may be incorporated into policy and legislation in order to further reinforce a certain
area of law. These advocacy skills include, a proper learning area, effective and appropriate
preparation, skills in communication and performance. Policy advocacy has been utilized by
various organizations to promote and establish laws that are more favourable to the society. It
has also been influential in creating more policies and laws that are more effective (Hill,
2007).
Atlantic Philanthropies which is a limited life foundation has been promoting policy
advocacy in various ways. Advocacy skills such as research has been an important tool in
order to currently find the issues involved and address the impact of certain laws and policies
to the state or nation (Fischer, 2003). They also spread knowledge of certain issues through
creating awareness to the public of certain issues that may affect their lives. This may be
done through the various media and internet platforms as well as addressing legislature and
policy makers. Furthermore, advocacy skills can assist in organising communities to take
action on certain issues that directly affect them, by informing the private sector and the
government.
Additionally, advocacy skills may be utilized to organise groups that create awareness
towards elected representatives or the public. Advocacy skills may also assist through input
of knowledge and expertise that may be used to create proper policies and legislation.
Advocacy skills also assist in developing policy that may be looked at as an alternative to aid
the current laws and policies (Eleweke, 2009). Nevertheless, lobbying is also a skill in

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advocacy through which elected official and policy makers are approached in order to be
directly influenced to change or incorporate certain policies or laws that are considered to
have certain issues. Furthermore, advocacy skills can also be utilizes when it comes to
litigation of certain issues to provide precedents that may influence changes in law. This may
challenge certain provision from being utilized and demand for further provisions in certain
instances (Fischer, 2003).
The policies and laws in place have to adapt to the changing society and they require to be
updated on current issues. As mentioned earlier a crucial area of concern in policy and law
making is risk management. Technology has been evolving through the years.
Communication and various transactions are done online but what are policies and laws in
place (Hill, 2007). These policies and laws are vital to consider, especially with regard to how
they are enforced, avenues to dispute resolution and the rights of parties
There are various laws that have been promulgated and various policies that have been made
in order to provide some legislative and policy framework that will provide some structure on
how this area is governed. The 2016 Cyber Security Strategy, the Privacy Act 1988, the
Crimes Act 1914, the Fair Work Act 2009, the Telecommunications (Interception and Access)
Act 1979 and the Criminal Code 1995 are some of the laws that require to be modified to
incorporate policies and legal provisions that may be used in protecting various databased
and internet based issues that have emerged through the use of technology (Fischer, 2000).
Some of the issues that may be highlighted include cyber security. The increase in cyber
terrorism can affect private individuals and organisations as well as government agencies that
have grown to offer public services that have been utilized online. Hacking of computer
systems has put all the various internet users at risk of having their privacy infringed and their
valuable data manipulated, stolen and destroyed (Hill, 2007). The current measures in place

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have also criminalised Denial of service attacks (DoS) or Distributed Service Attacks (DDoS)
as well as phishing which is a form of online fraud. Viruses and malware have also been
utilized to by various criminal organizations to violate the rights of tech-users. The protection
of tech-users is the major concern for the public and government. Identify theft has also been
an issue of concern that requires critical attention. Moreover, various scams are numerous in
the internet and users need to be critical on where they give their personal details. There is
also the issue of sexual indecency online whereby indecent behaviour is committed towards
others. More specifically, is the issue of sexual exploitation of children whereby child
exploitation material is used to assault children and in even groom them (Fischer, 2000).
Online jobs are another issue that requires regulation. The progression of the internet based
economy has led to online jobs which people carry out without the requirement of an office
space for the company. Various people are also offering opportunities to make money online
through various ways (Eleweke, 2009). This is mostly significant when it comes to certain
services that require some sort of skill like computer programming. Therefore, the people
involved require to be protected in that the employer or hirer is required to uphold the rights
of the worker. There may be instances whereby a worker is not paid and what recourse could
be afforded to him. On the other hand the law relating to the hirer or employer has to also
include measures to ensure that the work done by an employee is of a certain acceptable
standard. The policies and legislation like the Fair Work Act 2009 do not adequately cater for
these jobs and require further policy making and legislation to secure the rights.
Another issue of concern in the cyber domain is with regard to policies and legislation
established to control and monitors the movement of consumer commercial online
transactions. Products have been marketed on all avenues and the laws and polices relating to
this require to be considered (Mukhopadhyay, Harris & Wiseman, 2013) The commercial
world has progressed into the digital platform, whereby goods are sold to online customers

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and delivered. Additionally, a lot of websites make a lot of money through the advertising of
goods and services which may also be found online. The policies behind this have been
directly transferred from the legislation providing for normal trade to the online scenario
which is different (Hill, 2007). For instance, payment and deliver is done at the detriment of
the buyer who pays before the goods are delivered to him. Additionally, the online
advertising may be done in a way that may deceive the consumer. Consumer protection laws
ought to be designed to consider the online platform.
The other issue of concern would require proper policy and legislation is the manner internet
users provide information on the various social media platforms as well as dating sites and
emails. The information given freely by users is may be manipulated and used by the service
providers in a manner that may not be acceptable to users (Martínez-Sánchez Etal,2010).
Apart from that, the sites which are given this information may be hacked and the internet
users are left susceptible all manner of fraud and identity theft. The policies in place do not
cater on the procedures and remedies afforded to a person who in good faith has his private
information. The laws in place also do not much about how such issues are handled. The
safeguards need to be considered (Fischer, 2003). The Cambridge Analytica case brought
forth what issues such platforms online that collect private data, can bring in case the
information is manipulated or processed in a certain way. Apart from that various celebrities
have been hacked and their private information displayed on various platforms on the
internet. The culprits behind all these including the individuals and companies that are
established are not easily convicted and investigations mostly lead to a dead end.
The cyber domain requires a lot of research to explore all potential problems and rights to
parties that may be infringed upon. This will lead to an application of the advocacy skills that
will identify the key issues that require specific attention. Research will be the basis on how
the issues that relate to cyber policies and legislation can be given the proper attention.

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Various approaches from different jurisdiction will be compared with what policies and
legislations are in place. This will determine whether the best solution will be an amendment
to policy and legislation or will it require a new policy or law to be put in place. The role of
research in advocacy skills also prepares one to find the proper person to approach that may
assist or guide in making the changes that are required. This research will also aid in who the
public will participate and how they will be included in the quest to find a solution. Therefore
all the above issues require to be properly researched before a possible solution can be found.
Public participation is also a key skill in advocacy. The manner to engage the public and the
forum to address these issues will first be determined (Martínez-Sánchez Etal,2010). There
may be a campaign set up in which various individual will be educated about their rights like
in this instance the right to privacy. People might be given questionnaires to answer from
various institutions where they may state what they consider about certain aspect of cyber
relations (Birkland, 2015). Children can be visited in school and inquires may be made on
how they utilize internet resources for their safety. Further, they may also be given avenues
on where their grievances may be determined. This would be an exercise in passing
knowledge to the public (Fischer, 2003).They in turn may also give recommendations
through their various experiences in the internet platform. They may bring to light more
issues that research would not have covered. It is therefore vital to consider the role of the
public because these policies and legislations will be put in place for their protection and
benefit.
The issues of cyber terrorism are at the heart of reform of policies and legislation involving
the cyber domain. A review of this was done by Damien Manuel, the Director of Centre for
Cyber Security Research & Innovation (CSRI) and he proposes seven actions that ought to be
taken to make Australia safe from cyber insecurity. The first is a review of the Cyber Security
Strategy because the first strategy that was deployed in 2016 was not quite successful

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especially with regard to the links between the community and businesses. Thereafter, not
much attention was given to the issues. This new strategy should entail a cooperation from
the various industries involved which include the telecommunications providers, government
agencies (state and federal), and all that are involved in the commercial sector from financing
to businesses. Advocacy skills may be applied here on how these negotiations may be carried
out or where the forum for such a meeting would be appropriate. It will also consider whether
to hold one meeting involving everyone or a series of meetings isolating key issues from the
research undertaken. The plan must be diligently researched and critically analysed in order
to properly give attention to every issue that has been found through research and public
participation (Fischer, 2003).
The other solution that will aid the cyber security would be the introduction of a National
Security Centre that would be similar to the one in the UK, which may establish policies and
regulations that are similar to the ones in application in the UK. Research will also aid in
finding other legislation and policies that are designed and proven to assist the Australian
people in utilising internet resources safely without having any violation.
As highlighted above the communal campaign will also be vital in assisting in the
establishment of policy and legislation which is also an advocacy skill. Manuel focuses on
the education of the community which would assist in improving the behaviour on online
matters and in turn provide a safer environment for the commercial industries and families
(Martínez-Sánchez Etal,2010). Designing such an educational tool will also require advocacy
skills in order to ensure that the community can understand what policies and legislations are
in place for their protection and what conduct is required from them on the online platform.
This can also be effective if education is also given to children as highlighted above on what
conduct is proper online and who and how they should report certain conduct that may be
offensive. This related to child exploitation on the internet.

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Policies and regulations should also be in place in the certification of online industries. They
current cyber relations has over 100 industry certifications, which is quite absurd and may
complicate the matter, which in turn brings confusion to regulation. The government should
put in place strict policies and legislation that will require a certain minimum standard for
government staff which should include software engineers, technical personnel and
managers. This is similar to what the United States Defence Department has done. The
Australian government has to find mandatory vendor neutral certifications that may enforce
the policies and legislation in place. Advocacy skills will be required to create the legislation
and policies required, as well as, scrutinize the certifications and provide research on the most
suitable certification.
Manuel also saw it fit for the cyber strategy to incorporate small and medium businesses. The
current strategy has failed to consider this. These small and medium business are numerous
and critical to the commercial industry. They therefore, may have more influence when it
comes to issues that offer changes in the policies and legislation in the online domain. This
will in turn affect the larger businesses. There are also issues that may affect the small or
medium business that may not have been considered in by the larger businesses but may also
affect the larger businesses in the long run. Businesses are therefore require to follow a list of
eight essential requirement advocated for by the Australian Signals Directorate (Fischer,
2003). The Essential Eight are mitigation strategies that are put in place in order to ensure
that business are less likely susceptible to cyber-attacks. These secure their online systems
and make it harder for the online criminal to perpetrate the cyber-crime. Before these are put
in place it is vital that the business should identify what they should protect, who they should
protect it from and what level of protection would be sufficient. Therefore these eight
essential include application whitelist in that only approved trusted programs are run,
configuring Microsoft office macro settings to block online macros, using latest versions of

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patch applications, users to block certain applications like flash, limitation of administrative
privileges, authentication to be done using various variables, patching of operating system in
that they are always updated and daily backups to safeguard data (Martínez-Sánchez
Etal,2010).
Manuel also stated that according to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,
tertiary, health and legal educations sectors are the top four sectors that have reported
breaches in their systems. There should be policies and legislation in order for there to be
strict enforcement of certain protection mechanism in place to safeguard these crucial sectors
that are vital to the protection of the livelihoods and the society. These areas require proper
education, especially to those that are in the technological department. These sectors are
highly sensitive and an attack on these systems may cause damage to institutions that are
required by the Australian society.
When it comes to the matter of online employment the Fair Work Act does not fully cater to
those that are on the online industry. The commercial world has gone as far as invading even
the social media platform whereby in Instagram for instance, a person with a huge following
can be paid to advertise certain products. Conversely, there are certain commercial activities
that are illegal or unregulated such as women selling their undergarments and even their
photos (Renn, 2017). These are still jobs which are not covered under the policies and
legislation in place. The government should therefore, communicate to the online companies
to find policies on how these issues are handle during negotiations and even when rights are
infringed. Certain online jobs should also have policies and regulation on the standard of
work done as well as the terms of payment (Martínez-Sánchez Etal,2010). The Australian
government is losing a lot of taxable dollars if they do not follow up on how they should
properly regulate the online employment platform. Advocacy will be utilised to design ways
to ensure that the policies are focused on the right issues as well as the steps that ought to be

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taken. Establishing an online job policy or legislation that is stand alone would be adequate
instead of taking the current law and custom fitting it to the online scenario.
The online domain is vital in so many transactions and relationships. The world relies on the
online platform for a lot of resources as well as knowledge that is utilized on a daily basis.
The government should be concerned about the effects of not establishing proper regulation
in this sector (Mukhopadhyay, Harris & Wiseman, 2013). Advocacy skills will therefore
come into play from identify the issues, processing information, assessing and determining a
feasible conclusion. There are various issues that have emerged from the online platform,
which include cyber-crime, online employment, online businesses as well as privacy
concerns of internet users. The current technological times have to be considered and the
various policies and legislation requires to be implemented to assist in this.
The solutions provided for require further research but they seem reasonable sound. The key
solution was the implementation of the seven ways that were advocated for the Director the
Centre for Cyber Security Research & Innovation, which begins with an implementation of a
new strategic plan. Advocacy skills will ensure that this encompasses all the issues if proper
research and public participation is done in a proper manner. The second issue that was
recognised by Manuel was the Essential Eight which are required by online businesses to
secure their transaction and data. They are viable and may be utilized if they are further stated
in legislation and policies. Additionally the employment laws require new policies and that
will also assist the various actors involved from having their rights infringed upon. Creation
of new statutes that may further bulwark online issues seems possible and viable instead of
custom fitting old laws through amendments. Throughout, this process various advocacy
skills will be required and applied.

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List of references
Birkland, 2015. An introduction to the policy process: Theories, concepts, and models of
public policy making. Routledge.
Eleweke, C.J., 2009. The need for mandatory legislations to enhance services to people with
disabilities in Nigeria. Disability & Society, 14(2), pp.227-237.
Fischer, F., 2000. Citizens, experts, and the environment: The politics of local knowledge.
Duke University Press.
Fischer, F., 2003. Reframing public policy: Discursive politics and deliberative practices.
Oxford University Press.
Hill, M., 2007. The policy process. Harlow, UK: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Martínez-Sánchez, J.M., Fernández, E., Fu, M., Gallus, S., Martínez, C., Sureda, X., La
Vecchia, C. and Clancy, L., 2010. Smoking behaviour, involuntary smoking, attitudes
towards smoke-free legislations, and tobacco control activities in the European Union. PloS
one, 5(11), p.e13881.
Mukhopadhyay, S., Harris, T. and Wiseman, N., 2013. A Report on the Direct and Indirect
Effects of Prevailing Wage Legislations on Society.
Renn, O., 2017. Risk governance: coping with uncertainty in a complex world. Routledge.