Australia's public sector is experiencing an unprecedented wave of change. The Australian Government has already set an ambitious goal to become one of the world's top three digital governments by 2025. The events of 2020, from the bushfires to the global pandemic-proved just how vital that transformation is. Australians need their government to move quickly, be responsive, and solve today's problems in modern ways.
However, transformation efforts cannot come at the cost of security. Cyber threats are on the rise in Australia. Between July 2019 and June 2020, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) received 59,806 reports of cybercrime activity at an average of 164 reports per day. That's why, just as they've invested in digital transformation, the Australian Signals Directorate continues to evolve the Information Security Registered Assessor Program (IRAP) to create strict controls to keep public sector data safe.
The launch of the ServiceNow® Protected Platform expands our commitment to Australia's public sector, providing a solution built to enable data protection while accelerating digital transformation. After a rigorous assessment, we are now ready to offer customers with Protected level data compliance provided by the ServiceNow Protected Platform.
The IRAP protected assessment, with its rigorous requirements and strict approach to data protection, sets a very high bar for cloud companies that provide services to the Australian Government. Agencies that process Protected level data need cloud service providers that are truly committed to Australia, and willing to invest in designing an end-to-end solution for their data residency needs.
Investing in Australia with the purpose-built ServiceNow Protected Platform
The ServiceNow Protected Platform was purpose-designed for the Australian public sector and represents the results of an 18-month process to understand and design for IRAP's highest standards. The ServiceNow Protected Platform accelerates digital transformation in government and is powered by Microsoft Azure. Agencies get the full power of the Now Platform® while keeping their data and support in Australia.
ServiceNow have leveraged deep technical and industry expertise to build this solution. We engaged with Deloitte Australia's Risk Advisory team for their expertise on the Information Security Manual (ISM), and advice throughout the process. At the audit stage, ServiceNow Protected Platform was reviewed by an ASD certified IRAP assessor over several months, providing evidence and reviews of the platform against 600+ controls.
With the audit successfully completed, ServiceNow can now offer industry-leading levels of data protection to meet the growing demands of the Australian public sector.
Australian based Support Model
Our commitment to providing data protection through the ServiceNow Protected Platform goes beyond engineering. Our support model provides a great example of our dedication to delivering industry-leading levels of security, compliance, and data residency.
We have built a dedicated support model for the ServiceNow Protected Platform. This included hiring a team of Australian citizens, on-soil and with security clearance, who will be available 24/7 to support ServiceNow Protected Platform customers. Anyone who has permanent access to the ServiceNow Protected Platform will be required to meet those qualifications.
The ServiceNow Protected Platform support team will feature subject matter experts in critical topics, including administration, automation, integrations, performance, platform technology, service management, security and user experience.
Embracing our shared commitment
The IRAP program has evolved to emphasise a shared responsibility model between technology partners and government agencies, and ServiceNow takes our responsibility extremely seriously.
ServiceNow has mature security and compliance procedures, in-house engineering, and developer capabilities, and is rigorously audited by independent third-party companies and government bodies.
For a deeper view into the ServiceNow Protected Platform and how it can help you accelerate digital transformation, access our whitepaper.