The Australian Government's recent pledge of $1.46 billion for cyber security did not come as a surprise to Websense regional director A/NZ, Gerry Tucker, but the timing of the manoeuvre did.
“Though, whether this needed to happen wasn’t a surprise when you look at the Government pulling together the major resources focused around security in a disparate fashion,” he said.
Tucker said he had already seen the same thing happen in Europe and New Zealand, so it was a matter of time before Australia followed suit.
“It is a reflection of the fact that cyber crime is perceived to be a very serious issue,” he said.
Tucker adds that cyber security poses a threat not only to individual organisations, but at a macro economic level.
“It is a potentially serious threat to the Australian economy as a whole,” he said.
The Government has not released a breakdown of what the $1.46 billion will be used for, and Tucker is unable to speculate either.
“Until we see the details either in the budget, I don’t really know what the breakdown will be,” he said.
Crime wave
The $1.46 billion amount may seem like the Government will be set for the moment when it comes to cyber security, though Tucker said that more investment is likely in the short to long term.
“I would hope this is a recognition of the fact that cyber crime is of strategic importance to the Australian government and economy as a whole,” he said.
“Cyber crime is not going away, it is continuing to increase and is a large, multi-billion business globally.”
Tucker said the “bad guys,” whether it is criminal enterprises, state sponsored or political activists, are continuing to invest in this space.
“The complexity of the malware that we’re seeing, the endgame of that malware is becoming more complex, so I don’t think we’re going to see any drop in cyber crime numbers,” he said.
Significant drops in malware are also not expected in the foreseeable future, so Tucker predicts that the Government will continue to invest in this.
“This is not a one time investment,” he said.
Patrick Budmar covers consumer and enterprise technology breaking news for IDG Communications. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_budmar.