BACKGROUND BRIEFING: Fake news, Russian bots and voting online - how cybersecure is Australia's next election?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2019-02-26 09:52

Australia; NSW; WA

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Soon, Aussies will flock to the ballot boxes for the Federal Election. And while we all love a democracy sausage, wouldn't it be easier for everyone if we could just vote online? Cybersecurity is a major issue to consider, but problems can start long before the voting begins. Russian bots and fake news have affected elections in the US and UK, and political campaigns now target us with pinpoint accuracy based on data we willingly provide to social networks such as Facebook. How does cybersecurity factor into every level of our democracy? Leading Aussie cybersecurity experts talk about how these issues will affect us in the coming months.

Media release

From: Australian Science Media Centre

The briefing discussed the following issues:

Fake news: The dissemination of misinformation and Russian bots
Personal information: Security, privacy, and how our information is used in targeted political campaigning
Voting systems: The pros and cons of a paper ballot vs a potential online voting system

Speakers:

Dr Alana Maurushat is a Professor of Cybersecurity and Behaviour at Western Sydney University
David Vaile is Executive Director of the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre at the University of New South Wales
Associate Professor Mike Johnstone is a member of the Security Research Institute and the School of Science at Edith Cowan University

The briefing has now ended. A full recording of the briefing is available below.

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Research Australian Science Media Centre, Web page Full recording of the briefing

Journal/
conference:

Organisation/s: Edith Cowan University, Western Sydney University, The University of New South Wales, Data to Decisions CRC

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