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WA growing local innovation ecosystem on global stage with India

23/3/2023

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CyberWest Director, Cecily Rawlinson is part of a business delegation with representatives from 13 WA organisations participating in a trade delegation to India this week. 

Opportunities for collaboration across Western Australian and Indian innovation ecosystems will be front and centre today, as Innovation and the Digital Economy Minister Stephen Dawson will give a keynote speech at Umagine Chennai 2023 as part of the visit. Minister Dawson will highlight how the McGowan Government is supporting Western Australians to embrace partnerships with international innovators like those in India. Over three days, more than 10,000 delegates are expected to attend Umagine Chennai 2023. The event includes over 250 speakers across 130 plus sessions, and an exhibition featuring more than 150 exhibitors.
The organisations participating in the business delegation include the WA Data Science and Innovation Hub, CyberWest, DNA Zoo Australia, Innovation Central Perth, WeVolt, Red Piranha, Space Angel, LatConnect 60, QL Space, Hola Health, Has Holdings, Adarsh Australia and TATA Consultancy Services.
Several collaborative relationships are expected to be formalised during the five-day mission, including the exchange of a letter of strategic intent between WA and Tamil Nadu, which was signed virtually on 20 March 2023 to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two States. The letter of strategic intent follows the opening of the Invest and Trade WA office in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, which was first announced by Deputy Premier Roger Cook in July 2022.

During the visit, Minister Dawson will showcase the Chennai office. WA is the first Australian State to establish a presence in Tamil Nadu, the second largest economy in India. The Minister will also promote activities and initiatives supported by the McGowan Government, including Perth Landing Pad, The Challenge, Health Fellowships, the Premier's Scholarship and the CyberWest Summit. The mission will be supported by the Invest and Trade WA India-Gulf offices, led by the Investment and Trade Commissioner, Nashid Chowdhury.

Visit Invest and Trade WA's India Market Outlook 2022-23 for more information on trade and investment opportunities: https://www.wa.gov.au/system/files/2023-03/India_Market_Outlook_2022-23.pdf
Read Minister Dawson's Statement.
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CyberWest: A New Era of Growth for Western Australia's Cyber Hub

28/2/2023

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Edith Cowan University (ECU) is proud to announce the official launch of the WA Cyber Security Innovation Hub, to be known as CyberWest, as the state's newly revamped, locally driven cyber security centre. 
 
Established in 2018 as part of the AustCyber Industry Growth Network, CyberWest will now be supported by the State Government through the New Industry Fund and hosted by Edith Cowan University with a remit to grow and support the state’s cyber security capability.  
 
“The initial four years we spent as part of AustCyber were an excellent foundation on which to build the hub and its capability and we’re grateful to the AustCyber network for their support over this time,” CyberWest Director Cecily Rawlinson said.
 
“We’re now entering an exciting new phase of growth but will of course continue to work collaboratively with other states and federal cyber agencies so we can best support the cyber sector.”
 
The team is co-located with the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre, the ECU Security Research Institute, ECU Securing Digital Futures theme leader, and ECU Defence Research at ECU’s Joondalup campus. 
 
“We’re pleased to continue being hosted by ECU as it is a natural fit for CyberWest. They produce 20% of Australia’s cyber graduates and we are part of a cluster of organisations that provide a centre of cyber capability, capacity, and leadership for the state,” Ms Rawlinson said. 
 
CyberWest’s priorities for 2023 include supporting growth and commercial opportunities for the cyber security sector, building capability in the next generation of cyber professionals, and improving cyber security awareness and preparedness in all WA businesses.  
 
In May, the second annual CyberWest Summit will be held in Perth. Recognising that cyber security is more than an ‘IT problem’ the Summit is the ‘cyber conference for non cyber professionals’ and is designed for leaders across all business functions.
 
The program will provide clear and actionable cyber education to professionals outside of the security sector through a variety of presentations, workshops, and hands-on activities as well as connecting organisations to world leading cyber security providers. There will be a focus on three content streams; Critical Infrastructure, Secure Government, and Cyber Skills, the summit will also have an emphasis on diversity and education pathways. 
 
Western Australia’s Minister for Innovation Stephen Dawson MLC has praised CyberWest for its commitment to growth and innovation in the Western Australian cyber sector.  
 
"The launch of CyberWest marks a new era of growth and collaboration for Western Australia's cyber hub," Minister Dawson said.
 
"We are confident that this new locally driven and expertly led hub will bring about exciting developments and opportunities for the Western Australian cyber sector." 
 
Join the 2023 CyberWest Summit to be a part of this exciting new phase of growth for Western Australia's cyber sector by registering your interest here.  
 
 
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Cyber Week 2022 Wrap Up

21/11/2022

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Cyber Week is AustCyber’s national flagship event. Running from 14 to 18 November events and activities took place across Australia showcasing the full breadth of Australia’s cyber security sector.  Australia’s fourth Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan (SCP), AustCyber’s flagship publication, was launched as part of the week.

​The WA Cyber Hub was busy delivering events throughout the week aimed at students, industry and supporting diversity in STEM.  ​

Student engagement

A group of high school students who participated in the WA Cyber Cup with their certificates, along with Hub Director Cecily Rawlinson and Hub Chair Pia TurcinovWA Cyber Cup 2022
​The week kicked off with the judging and awards presentation for the WA Cyber Cup 2022. Delivered by the Innovation Institute, and sponsored by ES2 and CyberCX, this program took high school students through a five week course using design thinking to solve cyber related problems. 
The depth of ideas and solutions developed by the students was impressive.  thanks to the mentors, and judges who all made the program a huge success. 

Attendees at the Students of Cyber watch as students who completed the Capture the Flag challenge are announcedStudents of Cyber
Students of Cyber was next, and was co-hosted by Bunnings Cyber. Free tickets were on offer to any students able to solve the CTF challenge set by Bunnings.  After being run through the solution by Steven Lee, the 13 students who successfully solved the challenge were presented with prizes courtesy of Bunnings.
This was followed by a panel discussion on cyber careers and current issues with Emily Harmon, Dee Breakell, Duncan Alderson,  Kurtis Fox & Blake Taylor. This monthly event is usually open to tertiary students of cyber, as our Cyber Week special event it was open high school students too.  

Industry Engagement

In partnership with the City of Joondalup, the Hub delivered a special Joondalup Business Forum event on the theme 'Growing a Stronger Cyber Export Market' attended by 180 business and industry leaders.

The event was hosted by the City of Joondalup's Mayor Hon. Albert Jacob and CEO James Pearson with Jessica Shaw MLA, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier  providing the welcome address. 

AustCyber Group Executive Jason Murrell provided an analysis of AustCyber's Sector Competitiveness Plan followed by an in-depth discussion by our expert panel,  Tim Jones, MD of Hyprfire and Adam Bennett, Founder and CEO of Red Piranha, along with our Hub Director, Cecily Rawlinson.
WA AustCyber Booth
People networking
City of Joondalup Lord Mayor speech
Attendees watching the panel discussion
People networking
People networking
City of Joondalup CEO
The Hon Jessica Shaw MLA
Panel
Cyber Week Banners
Launch of the WA Cyber Awards
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Later in the day the CyberWestSummit was officially launched at the Bengaluru Tech Summit with the support of Minister Tim Watts MP, and Nashid Chowdhury.

Cyber West Summit will be taking place in Perth, Western Australia on 10 and 11 May 2023, hosted by WA AustCyber Innovation Hub.

CyberWest Summit is WA’s flagship event providing cyber security education across all industries and highlighting WA cyber security capabilities. As a key trading partner, we are delighted to welcome participants from India to join and to take Cyber West Summit global in 2023.

It was great to be part of the Australian delegation and receive support from Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation on two continents on the same day.

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The week ended with the AISA PerthSec Conference. The Hub team were there, supporting the event as a Bronze partner with a booth highlighting the Hub's activities as well as showcasing nine of our local cyber companies.
We also took the opportunity to build our sector knowledge attending presentations from a range of local cyber experts.  

Diversity & Inclusion

The Hub is a huge supporter of women in STEM and are proud to be a Community Sponsor for the WiTWA Tech+ Conference. The team ran a booth highlighting the Hub's activities as well as the importance of staying safe online, and the hosts of our podcast, West Coast Cyber were interviewing women for their next episode.

​The team thoroughly enjoyed hearing from amazing and inspirational women in tech who participated in the event.  It was fantastic to see the significant inclusion of cyber in the program and in recognition through the WiTWA Awards.
Cyber Week was a brilliant platform for getting the cyber message to such a broad range of stakeholders. ​We're looking forward to making 2023 event bigger.
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Cyber Secure in Mining

24/8/2022

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The Hub is excited to host a Cyber Security Space at the WA Mining Conference 12 to 13 October 2022.  We are proud to be joined by local cyber experts Red Piranha, Wardn, ES2 and Sapien Cyber as well as our partner, the City of Joondalup. 

From autonomous vehicles & IOT through to core IT systems - technology is in all levels of the mining industry. A cyber-attack on a mining SME could endanger the entire company and impact their supply chain as well as have impacts on Australia's critical infrastructure systems. We will be attending the conference to highlight to the mining sector that effective cybersecurity is essential to ensure operations run smoothly.  

You can find us at the expo at Booth E136. On Day 1 will also be holding a panel discussion I've been hacked, what's next? at 10am on the Expo Stage. We will run attendees through a cyber breach scenario in a mining company to explore the impacts both on the company and their supply chain and consider ways to mitigate those risks. Then see Director Cecily Rawlinson present "Cybersecurity: Managing Digital Risk in the Resources Sector" at 3.40pm on the main stage. 

The cyber community can receive a 30% discount on tickets by using code EX30PROMO
Tickets are available from waminingexpo.com.au

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AustCyber leads contingent of cyber security companies to RSA Conference 2022

16/6/2022

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AustCyber, the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network, in partnership with Austrade, led a delegation of cyber security companies to the 2022 RSA Conference in San Francisco.
Regarded as the world’s leading forum for cyber security professionals, AustCyber delegates tapped into the full potential of the international export market, building relationships with investors and industry leaders to expand Australia’s cyber security presence. Firms including threat hunting and networking monitoring tool Hyprfire, email and document classification and protection experts Janusnet, and DevSecOps visibility platform SecureStack, formed part of the AustCyber contingent participating in the Australia House event in partnership with Austrade.

Each participant engaged in comprehensive, cutting-edge educational sessions presented by leading industry experts covering critical security issues and emerging concepts facing organisations worldwide. Over fifteen hours of education sessions touched on topics including hackers and threats, risk management & governance, identity, and securing the remote workforce.
“The new concept of cyber security has implications beyond Australia, with a large proportion of our value chains dependent on the digital security of other countries,” said AustCyber CEO Michael Bromley. “This reinforces the importance of the RSA Conference Australia House event in facilitating the expansion of our export market through increased access to partners, allies and international enterprise customers.”
“By participating in workshops, networking events and reverse pitches, our leading cyber security companies will receive strategic advice from entrepreneurs who have successfully penetrated the US market whilst showcasing the ongoing business potential between the US and Australia.”
The RSA Conference was a significant opportunity for Australian companies looking to expand into the US and UK markets and capture a higher share of the US$147 billion global industry. Building relationships and securing investment will allow local cyber security companies to establish themselves in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), reinforcing Australia’s reputation as a trusted partner and centre of research excellence.
Hyprfire CEO Tim Jones said at the 2022 RSA Conference, "The Australia House program was a great experience and an amazing preparation for the RSA conference. We learnt a lot of useful information from the EIR, the expert panel and the VCs! Having AustCyber help us connect to new export markets and connect us to the cyber ecosystem at RSA is a huge boost for Hyprfire."
Director at the West Australian AustCyber Innovation Hub, Cecily Rawlinson said “It is excellent to be here, representing the National Node Network, co-funded by our state and territory governments. Our role at AustCyber is to support our cyber communities, both locally in Perth and across Australia as they export and access international markets so I am delighted to be here supporting some amazing WA home-grown cybers such as Hyprfire and BankVault.”

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Curtin Ignition Program

30/5/2022

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WA AustCyber Innovation Hub is a proud sponsor of the 2022 Curtin Ignition Program.

The intensive, one-week training program running from Sunday 4 September to Friday 9 September, is designed for aspiring entrepreneurs, academics and corporate innovators to both trial and prepare business ideas for the commercial market. 

The Hub is sponsoring one fully funded place this year for a cyber business idea. See how last year's participants benefitted from the program below, and get your application in. 
​
Scholarship applications opened 26 May and close 15 July.   
Criteria for scholarships along with how to apply can be found at https://study.curtin.edu.au/professional-development/executive-education/ignition/ ​
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AustCyber: Working with SMEs to Protect Supply Chains

6/9/2021

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Cecily Rawlinson, Director WA AustCyber Innovation Hub
First published in the WA Defence Review 2021 - 2022 Edition


 We face shortages that affect our daily lives, in everything from cars to computer chips. The current global situation has highlighted challenges to our ability to rely on ourselves in times of crisis – this can be viewed as one of the negative consequences of entrenched globalisation. It’s no wonder that over the last 18 months the term ‘supply chains’ has entered our daily vernacular.  

 In 2020, the Australian Government issued a defence strategy update acknowledging national vulnerabilities stemming from a reliance on global supply chains. It called for greater security, including in sovereign industrial capability supporting Defence. The importance of being able to sufficiently meet our own needs has arguably never been more critical. 

 There is no doubt cyber security sovereignty will shape our future security and resilience. Cyber security was a notable inclusion in the announcement of the AUKUS partnership, highlighting its importance domestically and with Australia’s allies, who have placed faith in its capabilities. This represents an opportunity for Defence, industry and related supply chains in Western Australia. Businesses of all sizes must be ready to demonstrate their cyber-resilience to key customers.  

 It is the role of the WA AustCyber Innovation Hub (WAACIH) to raise awareness of local and national cyber commercial capabilities and promote job creation in the sector. There is an immediate opportunity for contractors and third-party providers to WA, and Australian defence contracts, to benefit from the Hub’s expertise and connections. Research has found SMEs are the most vulnerable to cyber security attacks and cybercrime. About one quarter of cyber incidents reported to the Australian Cyber Security Centre in the last 12 months were associated with Australia’s critical infrastructure or essential services. WA’s risk is heightened by the increasing use of, and connectivity to, systems like Operational Technology. This vulnerability leads to an increase in attacks on OT assets that impact critical infrastructure. 

 Supply chains – particularly software and services – continue to be targeted by malicious actors to gain access to vendors’ customers. A significant cyber risk threat arises from the inability to control security measures adopted by supply chain partners. A global study found two-thirds of IT decision-makers say their organisations have experienced a software supply chain attack. Virus insertion can arise at any stage in the supply chain. Supply chain management, at the hardware or software or communications level, must be a priority. 

 SMEs are the most vulnerable sector of Australian businesses to cyber attack. Supply chains are of strategic value to, and therefore targeted by, malicious actors. Current policy settings and legislation do not adequately address cyber risk in supply chains. Urgent action is needed to help SMEs and all businesses involved in the defence industry supply chain to protect themselves. 

 This is where WAACIH comes in. As the only neutral and impartial West Australian adviser on, and connector of, experts in the cyber risk and security landscape, AustCyber believes a strong domestic or sovereign cyber security industry can and should play a vital role in protecting the economy and industries. This will enable growth through informed uptake of trusted digital technologies. Having a national capability as a prominent and strategic part of the cyber security sector overall is fundamental to Australia's interests. 

 There is no reason to consider Australian software suppliers fundamentally more exposed or riskier than overseas suppliers. From an ongoing supply chain and sovereignty perspective, local suppliers may be less risky - particularly in critical infrastructure and defence industry supply chains. The NSW government’s example of committing to a target of 30% of its total ICT spend on SMEs is a public policy example to be commended. It disrupts ‘business as usual’ and gives local Australian SMEs a chance to develop their customer and knowledge base, and human capital. It fosters local innovation in ICT and cyber security.  

 Australian-owned businesses are also clear of external influences that might fetter the ADF’s access to supply during times of need. Through use of sovereign cyber security solutions, and by upskilling SMEs, Australia can limit cyber risks in strategic industries. WAACIH offers expert advice on how best to mitigate, minimise and defend against these risks in an evolving landscape.  
​

 ​Cyber security sovereignty will shape our future security and resilience. The question is, will your business and supply chain be ready, and will you able to demonstrate cyber resilience to key customers? 
 www.wacyberhub.org 
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CyberWest Summit 2021 Recap

6/7/2021

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I can't believe we pulled this one off. The inaugural Cyber West Summit has now come and gone and I couldn't be more proud of the team for their vision, hard work and commitment over the past 6 months.

I'd like to thank so many, including our sponsors Commonwealth Bank Silverfern IT Slipstream Cyber Security Edith Cowan University Red Piranha Sapien Cyber ES2 City of Joondalup Netskope ES and Fortinet

Special thanks to our army of student volunteers, Kunjal M. Harmanjot Kaur Chandika Ramdoss Miranda Raffaele Lauren C. Sarweswaren Pakrisamy Dekar Lhamo Marius Calin and Daniella Kurnia Surya for all their dedication and hard work.

To my AustCyber - The Australian Cyber Security Growth Network Ltd node team in Brianna Gladman and Casey Farrell for making the trip and sharing in some great times, but also to Louisa Partridge, Mina Zaki and Paula Oliver (CISM) for their hard work in organising the Startup Booster Hub.

To our amazing and highly engaging MC's, Tanya Finnie, A/Prof Melissa Langdon and Farrell Tirtadinata for a brilliant job!

I can't leave out Deb Cousins Pia Turcinov Dr. Ian Martinus (ACEcD) Emma Brown, Stephen Rea Cecily Rawlinson shaun nannup


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Building the Bridge Between Students and Industry

8/4/2021

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The WA AustCyber Innovation Hub proudly launched a new initiative earlier this month. The new Students of Cyber (SoC) Industry Connect group held its first event at The George, Perth.
 
With attendance figures far exceeding expectations, the inaugural SoC connect event brought together a healthy mix of students currently undertaking a course in cyber security through universities or TAFEs and industry professionals in WA’s cyber security sector.
 
Attendees of various ages and backgrounds got to hear from the CTO of upcoming WA start-up, Stefan Prandl, as he presented a very engaging and at times humorous talk about his pathway into cyber security and the role he currently plays at Hyprfire. We were also honoured to be in the presence of various team members from Cyber CX, ES2, and another fast growing start-up, Retrospect Labs.
 
“The talk given by Stefan Prandl was both technically mind blowing but also grounded in making sure students felt they had a community and industry to be part of in Perth”, is just some of the overwhelmingly positive feedback received so far from students at the event.
 
SoC Industry Connect Events run on the first Tuesday of each month, with the next scheduled meetup on the 4th of May and hosted by Cyber CX in their Perth headquarters. Tickets will be available via Eventbrite later on in April. You can also follow SoC here on LinkedIn – https://www.linkdedin/showcase/studentsofcyber
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AustCyber- Cybersecurity and small business as critical infrastructure in Australia

5/8/2020

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Key Points

  • ​As an increasing number of Australian small businesses are working remotely due to the economic shock of COVID-19. They are faced with an increasing volume and variety of malicious cyber-attack. These hacking attempts threaten to disrupt their business in the best case and put them out of business in the worst.
  • The WA AustCyber Innovation Hub modelled the short-term economic impact of investing $1 million (AUD) into 5000 small businesses in Western Australia over a six-month period.
  • There is no Cyber Triple Zero phone number to call when a small business falls victim to a cybercrime.
  • The creation of a Cyber Intervention Emergency Response effort will work to prevent disruption of the critical Australian small to medium enterprise supply chain over a six months period.
  • 12% OF SMALL BUSINESS EXPERIENCE A CYBER EVENT
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CyberCheck.Me 3 minute videos

5/8/2020

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CyberCheck.Me has released 3 minute videos to assist SMEs better secure their business from cyber security risks. The videos were produced by ECU Cyber Security students. The students are now setting about creating 15 minute videos to extend the help.
Professor Craig Valli of ECU says “this is a project that has winners all around, the students get invaluable education and training on delivering presentations not afforded in the regular curriculum. The double down is the SME community gets a resource and the triple threat is that the students are employed to do this, creating employment. It is this sort of grass roots initiative that involves industry, academia and government collaborating to create real impact”
They can be viewed online at the CyberCheck.Me website https://www.cybercheck.me/essentials.html
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Insight into ECU’s Cyber Security Operations Centre

4/8/2020

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​​The Hon Kim Beazley, Governor or Western Australia was invited to tour the new Cyber Security Operations (CSO) Centre at Edith Cowan University (ECU) Joondalup Campus. Professor Craig Valli, Director, ECU Security Research Institute, Associate Professor Paul Haskell-Dowland, Associate Dean (Computing and Security) and Professor Andrew Woodward, Executive Dean, School of Science guided the Governor through the Southern Hemisphere’s largest CSO Centre within a university. This state of the art CSO opened on 4th February 2020.
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Cyber Resilience In The COVID-19 Era: Lessons For Defence Industry

4/6/2020

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Key Points:
  • In the new environment of COVID-19 and distributed workforces the nature, type and volume of cyber attacks have increased. Cyber criminals and malign state actors are using the crisis to exploit vulnerable government and business supply chains with intent to disrupt or cripple.
  • As a critical sovereign industry the defence sector is increasingly vulnerable in this setting and will need to be adaptive and resilient in order to limit an adverse impact to its supply chain and operations. 
  • By seeking advice from established and trusted institutions and implementing credible cyber countermeasures defence industry can mitigate the impact of current and emerging cyber threats.
Defence industry in Western Australia contains more than 200 SMEs that manufacture products and offer services to markets in Australia and overseas. As well as every other critical service provider, defence industry is also currently in the process of assessing its response capabilities due to the fast-moving macro environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic. What is becoming increasingly relevant is the way fortification of essential industries and their critical supply chains is being considered. Securitisation of business information, intellectual property, personnel and business systems needs to be priority at this time of global strategic transition. 
Cyber ChallengesIn a rapidly evolving environment of establishing new short-term goal setting, companies and government agencies are required to establish and agree to new objectives and key result tools.  A scattered and offsite workforce now has the same vulnerabilities of an unsecured third-party supply chain that is not subject to the same standards and compliance measures of a company that houses employees in one location. We have not even begun to test the robustness of governance, risk and compliance issues when a work-from-home employee or supplier is compromised.  
The rapid adoption of work-from-home technologies over the past few months has exponentially increased the use of online communication platforms such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype and Microsoft Teams. Like any internet-enabled service, the scope of exploitation becomes substantially wider and porous for cyber criminals and malign state actors. Cyber criminals have always worked from home, and now companies and employees alike have rapidly moved into the cyber criminal’s domain of comfort and preference. 
One example of a practical collaboration with the security of critical infrastructure is between the WA AustCyber Innovation Hub, Edith Cowan University Security Research Institute and two major critical infrastructure providers. This ‘Honeypot Research’ has allocated ECU research students to work with the power companies to build prototypes of certain control systems in their operating technology environment that mimic actual systems. Researchers can then study the threat signatures, attack methods and sophistication in order to gather cyber threat intelligence. This learning will translate directly to the way critical infrastructure providers such as energy , water and defence companies think about their cyber defence and vulnerabilities. 
Implications for Defence IndustryDefence industry contractors need to understand the inherent weakness in monitoring and defending systems when they rely on a diversified workforce who are now managing some of those operations from home. Architectural weaknesses inherent in this include unsecured data transmissions, sub-optimal security policy and process enforcement, unsecured personal devices and tools: and a lack of normal workplace controls. In the event of an attack, it is also now much harder to assemble decision-makers in one location to work together to come up with an agreed solution. The distributed workforce model also gives the attacker a time advantage. 
The WA AustCyber Innovation Hub has strong linkages with private sector cyber companies, industry associations and government agencies across the state to ensure the message of cyber awareness is spread and amplified. The Australian Cyber Security Centre offers COVID-19 Threat Updates is also a reliable source of information throughout the pandemic for SMEs.
AustCyber recognises that Defence provides many opportunities for sovereign cyber security companies. This year, AustCyber is involved with the MilCis 2020 conference and expo to be held in Canberra in November in support of Team Defence Australia for missions and cyber-focussed delegations to strategic global markets. Support will also continue for the Centre for Defence Industry Capability in their Global Supply Chain Program.
The WA AustCyber Hub has also partnered with ECU since 2018 to relaunch the Cyber Check Me program to assist small businesses and not-for-profits with their basic cybersecurity safeguards. Foundation partners include the Cities of Joondalup and Wanneroo and North Metropolitan TAFE. Advice is provided in line with the Essential 8 Cyber Mitigation Strategies which provides easily understood cyber hygiene practices.
A small cyber army of predominantly second year computer science students with a major in cybersecurity and Advanced Diploma students from North Metropolitan TAFE deliver the program through pop-ups at industry events (pre-COVID) with a migration now to online consultations with businesses. 
Practising Cyber HygieneFurther, here are some simple steps that defence industry SMEs could take to protect their business from cybercrime:
  • Baseline cyber hygiene should emphasise:
    • strong passwords for all devices and for your home WIFI,
    • having a reliable VPN technology installed to secure remote connections,
    • checking the software you use is patched with the latest versions and updates.
  • Be aware that cyber-attacks are rising in the COVID-19 era and ensure that emails and texts are from reputable sources before you choose to respond or act.
  • Be aware of Multi-Factor Authentication and set up if you are able.
  • Make sure that key staff members can be reached instantly if a critical decision needs to be made if there is an incident or breach. 
  • Consider what you would do in the event of an incident and who you would call for assistance.
The COVID-19 global pandemic has created a new environment that almost solely relies on trusted digital interactions. Business continuity now firmly lies within the context of a risk posture and framework. The nature, type and volume of cyber attacks has increased and will continue to increase into the foreseeable future. Cyber attacks will rely on users becoming fatigued with controls, permissions and safeguards. Therefore the defence industry must  be aware of the sources of truth they access to remedy any cyber challenges they face. AustCyber and organisations like it offer up-to-date free advice and links to Australian organisations and technologies that can navigate businesses through this transition time. 
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