Australia commits to $10bn cybersecurity investment
The ongoing war in the Ukraine has highlighted that cyberattacks are as much a part of modern state aggression as boots on the ground, or tanks in the street. Prior to Russia’s invasion, state-sponsored hacking groups launched infrastructure attacks on Ukraine and its potential allies, targeting defence and government agency networks.
With the increase in cybercriminal activity coming out of the Indo-Pacific region, the $9.9billion in cybersecurity funding, spread over the next ten years, is a welcome boon. In an article for APDR, editor Kym Bergmann explores the reaction amongst Australia’s cybersecurity community. Contributors include ACS President Nick Tate, Nexion CEO Kevin Read, Senetas CEO Andrew Wilson and former Head of Information Warfare for the Australian Defence Force, Marcus Thompson.
Thompson applauds the funding hike but calls it “long overdue” and calls on the government to actively encourage a strategy of “buy local” to limit the country’s dependence on foreign-made solutions. Sovereign solutions are a preferred option for many organisations, but they need to be competitive, both in terms of performance and price.
Senetas CEO Andrew Wilson comments: “Australian companies provide some of the most advanced and threat-resistant cybersecurity solutions. They include protection of the most sensitive data and critical IT infrastructure used in government, defence, enterprise and national infrastructure such as energy and telecommunications. “
“For example, our military grade data network encryption solutions protect much of the world’s most sensitive data and systems, including US, European and Middle Eastern allied governments and defence agencies. This budget has shown the Government understands the threat that future cyber-attacks could have on many aspects of Australian society and is prepared to seriously invest in the solutions that will be necessary to protect it.”
The Australian defence department is not the only agency committing additional resources to cybersecurity. The 2021 infrastructure bill in the US included $1.9billion earmarked for cybersecurity funding. However, just this week, the administration asked congress for an 11% increase in spending over last year. Across the rest of the Five Eyes alliance, there are record levels of investment, foreign and domestic in home-grown cybersecurity technologies.
If you’d like to discuss any of Senetas’ cybersecurity and data network encryption solutions, contact us now.
