IT Network Documentation - IPv4/v6 Public Facing addresses
Ben Fairless made this Freedom of Information request to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as part of a batch sent to 29 authorities
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
I am writing to you to request information pertaining to your Information Technology infrastructure.
Namely, I am after records detailing the IPv4 (and if relevant,
IPv6) addresses used to access the public internet from within your network.
To clarify, these are the public facing addresses of your private network. I am only requesting addresses that are used to access the general public internet.
In addition, if it is such that a particular IP address serves a
particular area within your department (for example, one IP address is used for Media Relations, while another is used for Ministerial Communications), I also request access to this information.
To assist you in locating this information, I suggest it would be found in network documentation, or at the very least in configuration files of your
router and firewall equipment.
Please do not hesitate to reply if you require clarification to
fulfil this request.
I look forward to your response.
Yours faithfully,
Ben Fairless
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
I refer to my request sent via Right to Know. The full request can be found here: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/7...
I forgot to add that I would prefer this request be treated as a request for administrative access. If for some reason the request cannot be dealt with in this way, please treat it as a formal application under the Freedom of Information Act (from the date it was initially received).
Please can you confirm receipt of my initial request and this amendment?
Yours faithfully,
Ben Fairless
UNCLASSIFIED For Official Use Only
FOI/2014/129
Dear Mr Fairless
Thank you for your email dated 16 July 2014, received by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), in which you made a request to the Department under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) in the following terms:
'Namely, I am after records detailing the IPv4 (and if relevant,
IPv6) addresses used to access the public internet from within your network.
To clarify, these are the public facing addresses of your private network. I am only requesting addresses that are used to access the general public internet.
In addition, if it is such that a particular IP address serves a particular area within your department (for example, one IP address is used for Media Relations, while another is used for Ministerial Communications), I also request access to this information.'
Timeframe for receiving your decision
We received your request on 16 July 2014 and the 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date. You should therefore expect a decision from us by 15 August 2014. The period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances. We will advise you if there is any extension of time.
Charges
Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect of a request for access to documents. If the Department decides that you are liable to pay a charge, we will send you a preliminary assessment of the charge as soon as possible.
Publication of documents
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be published online on our disclosure log at http://www.dpmc.gov.au/foi/ips/disclosur..., subject to certain exceptions. If you think you might wish to raise any objections to the publication of any of the information which may be released to you please contact us by email at [DPMC request email]. If you do wish to object to the publication of information, you would need to provide supporting reasons.
Exclusion of officers’ names and contact details
It is the Department’s policy to withhold the names and contact details of officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES) as well as the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers within the Department and other agencies contained within documents that fall within scope of the request. The names and other details of departmental or agency SES officers will not be withheld unless there is some reason for that information to be exempt from release. If you require the names and contact details of non-SES officers or the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers please let us know at [DPMC request email] so the decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope of your request.
We will write again when the Department has more information. Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_....
Regards
FOI Adviser
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet [DPMC request email]
02 6271 5849
-----Original Message-----
From: Ben Fairless [mailto:[FOI #707 email]]
Sent: Wednesday, 16 July 2014 7:15 PM
To: FOI
Subject: Freedom of Information request - IT Network Documentation - IPv4/v6 Public Facing addresses
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
I am writing to you to request information pertaining to your Information Technology infrastructure.
Namely, I am after records detailing the IPv4 (and if relevant,
IPv6) addresses used to access the public internet from within your network.
To clarify, these are the public facing addresses of your private network. I am only requesting addresses that are used to access the general public internet.
In addition, if it is such that a particular IP address serves a particular area within your department (for example, one IP address is used for Media Relations, while another is used for Ministerial Communications), I also request access to this information.
To assist you in locating this information, I suggest it would be found in network documentation, or at the very least in configuration files of your router and firewall equipment.
Please do not hesitate to reply if you require clarification to fulfil this request.
I look forward to your response.
Yours faithfully,
Ben Fairless
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #707 email]
Is [DPMC request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
Write your response as plain text. Only send PDF documents as a last resort. Government guidelines make it clear that PDF is not an acceptable format for you to use in the delivery of government information.
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
This request is being made by an individual using the Right to Know website. The unique email address provided by the service for this request satisfies s.15(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act.
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
UNCLASSIFIED
Please see attached decision.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet's handling of my FOI request 'IT Network Documentation - IPv4/v6 Public Facing addresses'.
The Decision Maker is incorrect when he states that "it is the security practice of Commonwealth Agencies not to explicitly publish... their IT infrastructure design". I have received several responses from other agencies, most under Administrative Access. Details of the requests and the applicable responses can be found at https://www.righttoknow.org.au/info_requ....
In addition, my request is for one very small part of that IT Design. I don't need (or want) to know what connects the network together. I also reject the assertion that the release of the IP Address information would "constitute a potential threat". Every time a PMC Public Servant accesses the internet, the IP address I want MUST be transmitted, or no connection is possible. It is akin to asking for the postal address of the Department, but in internet form.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/i...
Yours faithfully,
Ben Fairless
UNCLASSIFIED
Senior Adviser
Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. 02 6271 5849
e. [1][DPMC request email]
The Department acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders both past
and present.
[2]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[DPMC request email]