To celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March, Michelle Price sits down with three leading women in cyber and technology. Joining us on episode 19 of OzCyber Unlocked is Kate Pounder, Chief Executive Officer of The Technology Council of Australia, Professor Lesley Seebeck, Honorary Professor at the ANU and in our spotlight, we’re joined by Melinda Cilento, CEO of CEDA. Despite the clear business case for gender parity, women are still significantly underrepresented in senior executi...

It’s our first episode of OzCyber Unlocked for 2022! This month, AustCyber's CEO Michelle Price speaks to two passionate advocates for building Australia’s next generation of cyber employees - Evan Williams, the Australian Director at Microsoft 365 Business Group and Dr Bobby Cerini, Questacon’s General Manager of Science and Learning & Deputy Director. Dr Cerini runs us through Questacon’s new Australian Cyber Ready Program, which was launched during Australian Cyber Week. Designed for s...

This month, we look back at what has been one of the most challenging years on record. The pandemic and lockdowns dictated changes to our ways of working. On the upside, we all became more deeply connected to the cyber physical world around us. Unfortunately, it also meant greater risk from cyber criminals and foreign state actors. In episode seventeen of ‘OzCyber Unlocked’, AustCyber’s CEO Michelle Price speaks to Hamish Hansford (Group Manager and Head of the Cyber and Infrastructure Securi...

On Monday 25 October, as part of Australian Cyber Week 2021, we hosted our first ‘AustCyber after dark’ session where we stepped through the facets of a hypothetical cyber-attack on a hospital – the impacts on and responses of the medical system, government, crucial parts of our society and how it could impact us all. Through the eyes of Australia’s top cyber experts, including Matthew Nevin (CEO of Cybermerc), John Ellis (CISO of Bupa), Chris Painter (President of the Global Forum on Cyber E...

In episode fifteen of ‘OzCyber Unlocked’, host Michelle Price reflects on the topics of our past five episodes with retired MAJGEN Dr Marcus Thompson AM, a regular listener of this podcast. Among many things, Marcus runs his own advisory, Cyber Compass, is a strategic advisor at ParaFlare, a senior advisor to Macquarie Telecom Group, and a Director at Penten and Engineers Australia. He is also the immediate past and inaugural Head of Information Warfare for the Australian Defence Force....

One subject that often flies under the radar in the world of cyber security is insider threats. But this is a very real risk for Australian businesses. Some of today’s most damaging security threats do not originate from malicious outsiders or malware, but from trusted insiders with access to sensitive data and systems. In episode fourteen of ‘OzCyber Unlocked’, AustCyber’s CEO Michelle Price speaks to Tracie Thompson (CEO and Co-Founder of HackHunter) and Dan Holman (CEO and Co-founde...

Since the start of the pandemic, global digitization has accelerated at breakneck speed, and as we have seen in the news, cyber-attacks are impacting more and more businesses and individuals than ever before. This month, we ask how the Essential Eight is working for Australian organisations and discuss recent news that the federal government is set to mandate the Essential Eight cyber security controls for all 98 non-corporate Commonwealth entities. This comes four years after they were...

Cyber threat intelligence is a hot topic in security right now. Over the past year, we have seen wide-spread geopolitical destabilisation, COVID-19, the rise of the remote workforce and most recently, significant ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure. Broadly, threat intelligence is about sharing information between industry, academia and government so Australians can work together to defend their networks from attack and start to form a collective defence. In episode twe...

What is diversity? What does a toxic culture look like in practice? What are the main issues or challenges that our sector needs to tackle? In episode eleven of ‘OzCyber Unlocked’, AustCyber’s CEO Michelle Price speaks to Jacqui Loustau (Founder of the Australian Women in Security Network), Jinan Budge (Principal Analyst at Forrester), Tony Vizza (Director of Cyber Security Advocacy for the Asia-Pacific Region at (ISC)²), Jacqueline Kernot (Cyber Security Partner at EY) and Laura Lees (Sydney...

What roles are available in the cyber security industry? What qualities do employers look for? Currently, there is a shortage of skilled cyber security workers around the world. In Australia, the pipeline needs to continue to expand to meet the sector’s – and the economy’s – growth needs. The workforce is estimated to increase to 33,500 by 2024, with around 7,000 workers requiring training over the next four years. In episode ten of ‘OzCyber Unlocked’, AustCyber’s CEO Michelle Price spe...

AUCyberscape is Australia’s first consolidated online destination for understanding Australia’s cyber security capabilities. It provides interactive visibility of Australian cyber security products and services available on the economy and will highlight trends, issues and opportunities in the industry. Further, it collects data that demonstrates the breadth of capability and growth of the sector, together with its ability to be globally competitive as it scales. The platform, which is free t...

In this special episode of ‘OzCyber Unlocked’, Michelle Price speaks to Alex Scandurra, CEO of Stone & Chalk, about the recent merger between AustCyber and Stone & Chalk to boost Australia’s sovereign domestic industrial capability in critical and emerging technologies. By coming together, the organisations will provide startups and scale-ups with greater access to domestic and international customers, capital, talent and expertise. This will create highly-skilled jobs for Austr...

Cyber security standards and guidance play a key role in improving the security of data, assets, systems, networks and critical infrastructure. Well-developed, practical and verifiable standards, along with their supporting information in the form of guidance, enables consistency in cyber security practices and encourages competitiveness among developers, responders, managers and organisations. Last year, the NSW Cyber Security Standards Harmonisation Taskforce was convened to accelerate the ...

In episode six of ‘OzCyber Unlocked’, Michelle Price is joined by members of the AustCyber team to reflect on 2020 and discuss highlights from the year. Guests include: Prerana Mehta – Chief of Ecosystem DevelopmentTony Stubbs – Chief Operating OfficerOlivia Grandjean-Thomsen – Communication, Events and Engagement LeadTom Finnigan – Media, Public Relations and Engagement LeadJudy Anderson – Government Relations and Advocacy LeadLinda Cavanagh – National Network LeadMichelle Mosey – US Ecosys...

Cyber security continues to be one of the most rapidly expanding sectors worldwide, with global spending on cyber security products and services increasing by 30 per cent from 2017 to 2020. This year alone, Australians spent approximately A$5.6 billion on cyber security from both local and international providers, a figure that is expected to increase to A$7.6 billion by 2024. The 2020 update to Australia’s Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan, also known as the SCP, draws o...

Australian Cyber Week 2020 is the fourth annual showcase of Australia’s vibrant and dynamic cyber security sector, being held in a virtual format from 26-30 October. Cyber Week provides opportunities for Australian cyber security and related organisations to showcase their capabilities and network with peers, potential investors and customers. It also provides a great way for cyber curious individuals and organisations to better understand what cyber security can do and mean for them.&n...

Since Australia’s 2016 Cyber Security Strategy was released, the cyber security industry has grown from a nascent part of the Australian economy into a significant ecosystem of capability, creating both local and export growth opportunities. ​On 6 August 2020, the Australian Government released its next iteration in cyber policy through Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy 2020. Over the next 10 years, $1.67 billion will be spent on supporting actions set out in the strategy. But w...

The issue of missing persons in Australia is complex and multifaceted. Over 38,000 missing persons reports are submitted to police every year in Australia. In this episode, we dive into the topic of OSINT (open-source intelligence) and explore how AustCyber partnered with the Australian Federal Police and Trace Labs last year to hold the National Missing Persons Hackathon – a new and creative way to reach, and engage with, the Australian community to highlight that the issue of missing ...

Australia’s digital infrastructure and the data it carries are core to the value and growth of the nation’s economy. In this episode, we dive into AustCyber’s new report – Australia’s Digital Trust Report 2020 – which highlights the role digital trust plays in attracting investment and driving jobs growth. Guests include John Paitaridis (CEO of CyberCX), Matthew Wilson (CEO of Penten) and Sam Crowther (Founder of Kasada). For more information about AustCyber, visit www.austcyber.com.