Perth Voice Interactive

PROPOSED new laws to fight terrorism could actually make it easier for cyber criminals to hack into people’s lives, says a local IT expert.

The Abbott government’s proposed data retention laws require telcos to store data for two years, including names and addresses, the IP address allocated to an internet account, billing information, download and upload volumes, and the duration and locations of phone calls and internet sessions.

Chris McCormick, who runs a Perth IT consultancy service, says the honeypot of data could prove irresistible.

“If hackers can get into JP Morgan and Target, I’m sure they will be able to access the information held by telcos,” he says.

“The majority of authorised people who will have access to these records will be trustworthy, but there’s always someone who will be corrupt and abuse the information for their own gain. In any case, storing this information is not an effective way of stopping terrorism in Australia.”

ASIO director-general Duncan Lewis says all four plots for mass-casualty terrorism attacks in Australia in recent years have been thwarted largely because agencies had access to communications metadata.

Critics of the new laws say the agencies’ success shows current laws are sufficient, and that the new powers are over-reach. Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie, a former intelligence whisteblower, says they put Australia on the road to becoming a police state.

AFP commissioner Andrew Colvin concedes the powers may be used to tackle illegal downloading of movies and music. They’ll also be used to hunt child abusers.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK