Media Release: ITPA Lends Support to the Stay Smart Online Initiative
Media Release:
ITPA lends support to the Stay Smart Online initiative
ITPA backs Commonwealth Stay Smart Online initiative, joining collective of IT organisations urging broader community focus on corporate and personal online safety.
SYDNEY: 3 October, 2017 - The IT Professionals Association (ITPA) has joined with many other leading IT industry organisations to endorse internet safety messages being communicated under the Stay Smart Online Commonwealth Government initiative.
Stay Smart Online is spreading the message that greater internet safety should be a high priority for all Australians and helped promote the 10th annual Stay Smart Online eek – a national awareness initiative dedicated to boosting Australia’s cyber resilience.
This year's Stay Smart Online Week promoted the theme of ‘simple steps to online safety’ and ITPA urges all 17,000-plus members to take simple, practical action to stay safe online.
ITPA is supporting the initiative by sharing advice focused on five key areas of online safety, including privacy of your personal information, strong passwords, software updates, backing up your important information and avoiding online scams.
According to Stay Smart Online, cybercrime on the rise and is now estimated to cost Australians more than $1 billion per year, with around 43 per cent of cyber-attacks targeting small businesses.
When you add the fact that almost 90 per cent of Australians now accessing the internet daily, learning to be safe online is relevant to every aspect of our lives, whether at home, in the office, or at school.
ITPA President, Robert Hudson said that ITPA is proud to be doing its bit to build greater awareness about the importance of online safety in our industry and community.
“Most people who work in the industry or have undertaken studies in IT such as our large membership base would be well aware of the potential dangers online,” Hudson said. “For that reason, we are in a perfect position to take a leadership role in helping to raise awareness of cyber safety and security within our workplaces, families and communities.
“Stay Smart Online messages are perfect for IT professionals to talk with their families, friends, and co-workers about internet safety, so that as a broader community, we’re better prepared to avoid online threats and to minimise the impact when things do go wrong.
“If we each tell one group of people how to take simple steps for improved online safety such as creating strong passwords, and regularly backing up data, we can make a big difference in the fight against cybercrime.”
The Stay Smart Online initiative is supported by more than 1,400 business and community partners across Australia. For more information about Stay Smart Online, visit www.staysmartonline.gov.au.
For more information or comment, contact:
Robert Hudson, President, ITPA - president@itpa.org.au - 0408 860 595
ABOUT ITPA:
The Information Technology Professionals Association (ITPA) was formed in 2016 as an evolution of the System Administrators Guild of Australia (SAGE-AU), which was founded in 1993. Since launching ITPA has grown to now include over 17,000 members. Led and populated by IT professionals who are currently working in the industry, ITPA aims to be a trusted source of advice, knowledge and information about the IT industry for enterprise, government, media and society. It is in tune with the latest industry developments, focused on growing career opportunities for Australian IT professionals and willing to challenge government policy that inhibits the growth of the Australian IT Industry.