The state of Australian cyber – 2021 observations from retired MAJGEN Dr Marcus Thompson

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.  

Deliberately, the topics of our last several pods are topical for all Australian organisations. This includes insider threats, the Australian Government’s Essential Eight mitigations for managing cyber risk, cyber threat intelligence, diversity in Australia’s cyber workforce and careers and pathways in the cyber industry. 

Discussion traverses these topics as they relate to the various cyber-physical challenges currently faced by the economy, the impending critical infrastructure legislative changes, and the heightened awareness around cyber-attack methods including ransomware.

This month, our cyber spotlight features Ben Whitham, Co-founder and General Manager at Penten. Founded in 2014, Penten is one of Australia’s fastest growing and successful cyber security companies focused on innovation in secure mobility, applied artificial intelligence and tactical communications security.

Useful links:

• Harmonised taxonomies of security and resilience: a suitable foundation for the security discipline (a thesis by Marcus Thompson): https://bit.ly/3zKGso0
• MITRE ATT&CK: https://attack.mitre.org/
• ‘Australian organisations are quietly paying hackers millions in a 'tsunami of cyber crime' (James Purtill, 16 July, ABC Science): https://ab.co/3CTg4dV
• Essential Eight (Australian Government; Australian Signals Directorate): https://bit.ly/3m0GlA0
• Penten: www.penten.com
• Penten’s Export Commercialisation Playbook for Australian Cyber Startups (UK Edition): https://bit.ly/3EU0tfR

Catch up on the past five episodes of ‘OzCyber Unlocked’:

• Intentional or unintentional? The impact of insider threats: https://bit.ly/3ueW4ix
• The Essential Eight – keeping your digital infrastructure secure: https://bit.ly/3lW2LCu
• Cyber threat intelligence – a deep dive into why it matters: https://bit.ly/2ZEd4nr
• 'Cyber shift’ – how do we improve diversity & workplace culture to enact real change?: https://bit.ly/3m22bDh
• Pathways into cyber security – how to plan, upskill and maximise career opportunities: https://bit.ly/2XTrJtJ