Maroochy Shire Council then had to prove that messages did not originate from their equipment and they started recording the messages. When the police became involved they were able to match the time and date stamp of sent messages to the ones received by Maroochy Shire Council. The hacker had left all historic information on his hard drive, because he did not think he would get caught.

At the conference, the IT team from Maroochy Shire Council will detail the practical examples and measures of how to protect against such incidents. The APCO conference is being held from February 13 to 15, 2006, on Queensland's Gold Coast.

Other speakers at the Technisyst-sponsored event include the Defence Signals Directorate, Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police, Queensland Emergency Services and New South Wales Department of Commerce.

A wide range of international speakers will discuss emergency response challenges to events such as Hurricane Katrina and there will also be presenters from the UK on London's response to the July 2005 bombings.

For more information go to www.apcoaust.com.au.