ATO renews with Macquarie

The ATO has renewed its agreement with Macquarie Government (a division of Macquarie Telecom Group), extending the services originally supplied under an agreement signed in 2019.

Under the agreement to provide a range of data and cybersecurity services, the ATO will utilise the organisation's Secure Internet Gateway (SIG), 24x7x365 Security Operations Centre (SOC), sovereign data centre, hyperconverged infrastructure and cloud services. These services support the secure management of the connection between the ATO’s IT environment and the internet and protect the financial, personal and other sensitive data of Australian organisations and citizens.

Since the initial agreement was signed, Macquarie has facilitated the migration of SIG services as well as supported the ATO’s IT and security teams in relation to SIG services. This support includes monitoring of digital events on the ATO’s SIG and triage of targeted attacks by Macquarie’s SOC.

For the ATO, Macquarie’s SOC provides a full inspection of internet traffic flows, content and images to meet ATO policies, the Government’s Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF) and Information Security Manual (ISM) controls.

In December, Macquarie Government, Australia’s government cybersecurity specialist, also became the first company in Australia to have both its cloud and data centre services ‘Certified Strategic’ by the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA).

Macquarie Government provides SIG and other cybersecurity services to approximately 42% of the federal government based on staff headcount.

“We’re proud to play a key role in keeping one of Australia’s most fundamental government agencies secure, at a time when Australians are looking for greater assurance their critical government data and the institutions that store and protect it are fully secure,” said Aidan Tudehope, Managing Director, Macquarie Government.

In growing its government cybersecurity capabilities, Macquarie Government has continued to invest in its infrastructure and service capabilities, including a significant focus on recruitment. The company now has more than 220 security cleared engineers servicing its clients. They are driving service innovation through the provision of virtual services gateways, enhanced cybersecurity tools and secure access service edge (SASE) security frameworks.

Macquarie Government has also significantly expanded its sovereign data centre campus in Canberra, opening the $17 million Intellicentre 5 data centre in 2021.

Image credit: iStock.com/Vertigo3d