Australia is renowned for our willingness to adopt IT efficiencies!

The ongoing shift to cloud computing both worldwide and here, seen recently in Amazon’s expansion to a second data center in Melbourne, shows that Australians are not afraid of outsourcing workloads to shared data center. In addition, a recent survey by ADAPT suggests that 46% of CIO respondents are deploying Robotic Process Automation (RPA), 44% are adopting machine learning/artificial intelligence, while 43% of CIOs are using chatbots. Digitization and adoption of emerging technologies are mantras for Australia’s top performing businesses.

However, it’s not news that cybersecurity has been top of mind for all Australian organizations in the last year. With high profile attacks on telcos, health insurers, energy companies and retailers, no industry is immune. Here’s a list of Australian orgs that were hit in 2022, and although you may think this leads means there is a growing attack trend, it’s more likely that attack instances are more visible. Most likely due to reporting required by the Australian government in the national mandatory Notifiable Data Breach scheme.

For Australian CIOs the ongoing pressures of business automation, skills and staff shortages and increasing sophistication of cyber threats means that most clients I speak with are looking for service providers for cost-effective and efficient ways to bolster cyber defenses.

Specifically, Australians are now well-positioned to leverage cloud-based managed security service (MSS) providers. Scalability and flexibility are built into a cloud-based offering, allowing your provider to quickly respond to changing security needs and rapidly deploy new monitoring or service solutions. Furthermore, the cloud allows for real-time threat detection and response, enabling faster and more effective remediation of security incidents. No need for onsite people or equipment.

Increasing integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies into managed security services can help quickly identify and respond to evolving threats and provide improved threat detection and response times. Additionally, AI-powered systems can automate many security processes, freeing up security personnel to focus on more strategic tasks.

As local businesses integrate more connected devices there can be additional risk. An increasing array of IoT devices (including CCTV cameras) present new vectors for attackers to breach an environment or leak data. However, properly secured they do not pose a risk to the network, but having an experienced MSS provider with knowledge to address these concerns is paramount. Tip: Trustwave’s SpiderLabs Blog examines device vulnerabilities regularly.

I continue to experience more local organizations coming to me looking for proactive security measures that can prevent attacks before they occur. MSS providers delivering advanced threat intelligence and proactive threat hunting services can identify potential security issues before they become actual incidents. Our programmatic approach using the MITRE ATT&CK framework identifies the opportunities for compromise that exist today in your environment. I’m ready to show you exactly what this looks like – reach out to me via LinkedIn.

Cost-effective, scalable, and secure security solutions is an increasingly essential component of every Australian business strategy. If you’re considering a MSS provider in this region, I recommend you read this latest IDC APAC report on the local vendors. Reach out if you’d like to discuss this report further, or need to know more.