Australia Announces SMB Cyber Rebates

♦ Australia announces SMB cyber rebates and a $A10B cyber security war chest for cyber defence.

Former head of information warfare for the Australian Defence Force, Marcus Thompson, said the $10B cyber defence investment is “welcome and long overdue”, with 20 per cent cyber rebates for small businesses also encouraging, but more is needed to shore up Australia’s multinational-dependent cyber resilience.

Thompson said Australia’s greatest threats come from abroad, but the bulk of cyber investment also goes abroad and government needs to drive a buy-Australian mindset shift for cybersecurity services, and “more than ever, we need to build stronger sovereign capabilities at home to support our national cyber resilience in a changed world”.

“The decision to invest nearly $10 billion into Australia’s cyber defence capabilities is welcome and long overdue. It begins to recognise the threats we face in a changed global environment are more likely to come from the digital world,” Thompson said.

“The additional 20 per cent rebates for small businesses purchasing cyber security systems are also encouraging – they don’t typically have CISOs, cyber security teams, or sizeable budgets like major organisations to better protect themselves from cybercriminals.

“Yet, small businesses’ operations grind to a halt in the event of a cyber-attack, and their position in the supply chains of government, critical infrastructure and other key industries opens that risk to all of Australia.”

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