NSW launches sector-wide cyber security strategy

The NSW Government has launched a sector-wide cybersecurity strategy that brings industry development and government resiliency together.

The strategy focuses on four key commitments including increasing NSW Government cyber resiliency, helping NSW cybersecurity businesses grow, enhancing the industry workforce and its skills, and supporting research and innovation.

The new strategy will replace the existing NSW Cyber Security Strategy and the NSW Cyber Industry Development Strategy, combining both into one overarching cybersecurity strategy.

Minister for Digital and Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello said, “To realise our collective vision of becoming the cyber capital of the Southern Hemisphere, we need government and industry working together — that’s what this strategy seeks to achieve.”

Last year, NSW committed $240 million to bolster internal cyber capacity, established a regional Cyber Security Hub in Bathurst, led the work of an industry standards taskforce and introduced SME targets for ICT expenditure across government, Dominello said.

Under this strategy, Investment NSW will establish a NSW Cyber Hub, said Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres. NSW already has an incredible depth of talent; however, we need to continue to foster, cultivate and grow this pipeline to ensure our industry thrives, Ayres said.

“The export opportunities for [the] cybersecurity industry [are] enormous. From Bondi to Broken Hill, cybersecurity businesses can export to any location around the world from any city or town in NSW,” Ayres said.

The strategy is designed to ensure the government continues to provide secure, trusted and resilient services in an ever-changing and developing environment while supporting the growth of an innovative NSW cyber industry to cement NSW as the leading state for cybersecurity in the Asia–Pacific region.

To achieve its vision of become a world leader in cybersecurity, the government will consider four principles: lead by example in best practice and cyber resilience; be progressive and proactive to allow the cyber workforce to expand; seek opportunities to grow cyber industry commercialisation; and provide practical support to reduce barriers to business growth.

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