- Cisco partners with the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre (A3C), the University of Adelaide and the State Government of South Australia, to elevate cybersecurity capability in SouthAustralia and in
- Cisco relocates its Adelaide office to Lot Fourteen, co-locating with A3C and further reinforcing its commitment and global leadership in
- Cisco’s Securing Australia’s Critical Infrastructure whitepaper outlines recommendations for the11 sectors impacted by the Federal Government Critical Infrastructure
22nd November, Adelaide – Cisco announces its investment to support the advancement and acceleration of cybersecurity skills and capability in South Australia, co-locating in the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre (A3C) at Lot Fourteen. During Cisco’s Securing Australia’s Critical InfrastructureSymposium event, insights were shared into the evolving cyber threat for critical infrastructure operators, and the key role of underlaying infrastructure to combat cybercriminals.
Cyber security has emerged as one of Australia’s most significant economic and strategic threats, costing the Australian economy $33 billion in FY21 according to the Australian Cyber Security Centre. A cybercrime was reported every eight minutes in Australia in 2020/21 – a 13% annual increase and 25%of those attacks were on critical infrastructure.
The challenge is becoming greater with more and better-resourced attackers and chronic skills shortage forecast for cyber talent. New Commonwealth Government legislation is likely to add greater reporting obligations to critical infrastructure operators across 11 sectors, but additional compliance measures alone won’t make infrastructure assets secure. Gaps exist globally in crucial cyber skills, but also environments to facilitate research, testing and practical learning with the continually evolving cyber threat landscape.
Minister for Trade and Investment, Stephen Patterson, said Cisco’s investment to support the advancement and acceleration of cybersecurity capability in South Australia will be instrumental to the state’s companies.
“Cybersecurity poses a real threat to South Australian companies,” Minister Patterson said. “Having Cisco establish their South Australian headquarters at the Australian Cybersecurity Collaboration Centre(A3C) at Lot Fourteen, will benefit global technology companies with Cisco enabling access to their leading expertise and technologies.
“Their co-location at the A3C will expand Cisco’s South Australian footprint, creating five jobs within our community, and will also enable collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship to address cyber threats and ensure the safety of our state’s business environment, as well as working with 3,000 students in our state on their IT and cybersecurity program.”
To address this, Cisco is investing in skill development and assets, expanding the Networking Academy program with education partners to meet the growing demand of digital and cyber skills required. As well, a new Critical Infrastructure Lab – a test lab facility for all critical infrastructure operators located at A3C, fostering innovation in cybersecurity.
Cisco’s Vice President of Cisco Australia & New Zealand, Ben Dawson said of the investment, “Cisco is excited by the opportunity to relocate our Adelaide office and team to Lot Fourteen, alongside with the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre and reinforce our commitment and global leadership in cybersecurity. Through this investment Cisco is supporting research, upskilling and reskilling in cybersecurity, to allow Australia’s critical infrastructure operators better prepared and equipped to tackle the cyber threat.”
As part of the A3C co-location, Cisco will provide the latest perspectives on securing critical infrastructure and hear about important new cyber initiatives being rolled out in Adelaide, and particularly in Defence. Cisco’s Securing Critical Infrastructure Whitepaper provides key recommendations to 11 sectors.
In addition, Cisco is working with leading national universities to understand common threats and build solutions for critical infrastructure operators. In particular, how to make technology platforms more resilient in the face of cyber threats, how to create a safe space for cyber security innovation before moving to full deployment.
Among these projects is a partnership between Cisco and the University of Adelaide – also a key tenant at the Lot Fourteen innovation precinct – aimed at eliminating cyber threats in the battlefield. The “zero-trust” network assumes you can’t trust anything it connects to. Its ability to detect and eliminate security breaches could make the difference between life and death on the battlefield, where real-time, data-based decisions need to be made.
Professor Michael Webb, Director of the Defence and Security Institute at the University of Adelaide, said: “Improving network security is key to protecting Australia’s military capabilities, providing accurate and secure information that enables the best decision-making in the field. There are two critical issues for us here: the speed in which a potential threat is detected, and how quickly and dynamically the system can respond to that threat.”
Additional Resources
Securing Critical Infrastructure Whitepaper
Smart Base: Reimagining the Network Security in Defence Networking Academy – Cybersecurity Fundamentals
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