The Australian federal government has taken several steps lately to pave a path for Australia to become a leader in the digital development sector with special focus on cyber security. However, there is a greater degree of coordination required between the government and the domestic cyber security community to face the growing challenges that the country faces in this digital age.
What must also be taken into cognizance is that the greatest challenge that Australia faces today is developing sovereign capabilities to defend from attacks on the cyber front. This is where Red Piranha comes into the main frame being the first cyber security company in Australia developing the first home grown Unified Threat Management (UTM) product line. These cyber security products are aimed at offering Australian SMEs affordable and effective access to having world-class cyber defense for their networks.
So Why Buy Australian?
When it comes to cyber security, it is seen that its always better to collaborate with local cyber security product manufacturers, suppliers and service providers.
There have been instances in the past where it has been easier to work with Australian companies than the foreign suppliers when vulnerabilities are discovered in their products.
One such case is related to Edward Farrell, an Australian cyber security researcher, who had recently detected a major vulnerability in a Building Management System (BMS) deployed at the Royal Australian Air force Base and the facilities at the Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation (ANSTO). Farrell’s research exposed the fact that the two building management systems were connected online further creating a loophole that could be exploited by attackers.
Farwell describes in his LinkedIn post how the BMS vendor reacted to his findings and threatened to take legal actions if he disclosed their identity. But he also further goes on and praises an Australian vendor that was involved in the deployment of the same BMS at the hi-profile locations and how swiftly they reacted in mitigating the threat by addressing the discovered bugs. This is one of the many reasons why cyber security researchers like Farrell have repeatedly suggested that collaborating with Australian vendors is a lot easier than foreign vendors.
In a research conducted at the Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia, by Nikolai Hampton and Patryk Szewczyk in 2015 it was discovered that SoHo network devices that are currently available in the Australian market contained obsolete operating systems and software components. According to the survey it was also found that foreign SoHo manufacturers across Australia are trying to distance themselves from providing a guarantee that safeguards the suitability of the SoHo device firmware. This report also exposed a major problem existing in SoHo networking devices which relates to users not being aware of the vulnerabilities that have not been patched for a long time by SoHo network device manufacturers.
Such loopholes like the ones discussed above can be minimized by relying on local Australian information security companies who have a good understanding of the domestic cyber security domain of the country. Red Piranha is one such Australian information security company that has been rapidly growing since its incorporation last year. The company develops Unified Threat Management (UTM) next generation firewall (ngfw) software/hardware solution for enterprises, homes and offices. The threat management systems are integrated and backed by analyst teams who make sure that there is a constant system update further increasing the layers of system related security.