AustCyber’s 2019 update to Australia’s Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan and the CISO Lens Benchmark 2019 released today

AustCyber’s 2019 update to Australia’s Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan draws on extensive industry consultation and research to provide a fresh picture of the global outlook, the challenges, and the opportunities and priority actions needed to grow a vibrant and globally competitive cyber security sector that enhances Australia’s future economic growth. 

Last year’s update provided a ‘deep dive’ on the skills and workforce gap – one of three key issues holding back the sector’s growth. This year’s deep dive explores the underlying structural challenges of not yet having robust measurement of the sector’s development, as well as the economic impacts.

In Australia in 2018, external spending on cyber security products and services grew by eight per cent to A$3.9 billion. This compares with six per cent growth in 2017.

The Australian Cyber Security Industry Roadmap continues to be a companion document to the Sector Competitiveness Plan to enable growth opportunities for Australia. The Roadmap brings together the expertise and networks of CSIRO Futures and AustCyber to identify a common vision and map out the road to success in the cyber security sector. World-class scientific and technological expertise is applied to steer business, government and society through the challenges we must navigate over the medium to long term, to seize opportunities across all Australian industries. 

This year, a second companion document has been released – The CISO Lens Benchmark 2019CISO Lens is a forum for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) of large Australian and New Zealand organisations. This report aims to enable evidence-based decision making around strategy and resource allocation and is founded on benchmarking completed by CISO Lens founder, James Turner, with cyber security executives to assess how their organisations respond to cyber risks.

“Australia is well placed to become a global cyber security leader. As organisations increasingly rely on digital technology and data, the need to protect people and assets from malicious cyber activity is growing. This strong demand for cyber security is creating substantial economic opportunities,” said Michelle Price, AustCyber CEO.

All documents are available online:

Australia’s Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan 2019

Australian Cyber Security Industry Roadmap

CISO Lens Benchmark 2019