Is the Australian Government’s billion dollar security budget money well spent? What about cyberterrorism? Is it a real threat to the online community? Has WikiLeaks improved the human rights landscape?

Dr Daniel Baldino, senior lecturer in Politics and International Relations at our School of Arts & Sciences has the ‘inside story’ on the half-truths, conspiracy theories, government bungles and ideologies in the secretive world of intelligence and security at his fingertips.

The issues are explored in detail in a new book Spooked: The truth about intelligence in Australia, edited by Dr Baldino.

It focuses on  questions about the contemporary role of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO); the money invested by Australia in security measures; the perceived ‘threat’ of cyberterrorism; the role of WikiLeaks and its implication on human rights; and whether ordinary citizens should have access to classified information.

“The aim of the book is to provide a backdrop and context to the core dimensions of security challenges, especially regarding terrorism and spy craft,” Dr Baldino said.

“It compares today’s culture of pervasive fear and over-reaction in security and terrorism to the classic folk story of Chicken Little, the hen that believes because an object has fallen on its head, the entire sky is falling in.”