What is Australia’s new 23.4 million USD Cyber Wardens Program for Small Businesses?
Although not mentioned in Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ budget speech on Tuesday night (May 9), the actual budget papers included a $23.4 million investment aimed at increasing cyber resilience in small businesses.
The Cyber Wardens program – inspired by similar fire and emergency response guards that many companies already have – aims to train up to 60,000 such guards in small businesses over the next three years.
The program is non-technical in nature, will be free and above all easy for businesses to use. With the training, cyber guards will be able to help their companies both prevent and mitigate cyber attacks. The training can be completed online and the program will be administered by the Council of Small Business Organizations of Australia.
Telstra, CommBank and the Australian Cyber Security Center are also supporting the initiative.
Matthew Addison, the chairman of the Council of Small Business Organizations of Australia, believes the Cyber Wardens program can help small businesses take a leading role in the fight against cybercrime.
“For small businesses to thrive in an online ecosystem vulnerable to cyber threats, increasing employee cyber awareness and motivation to act in a cyber-secure manner is critical,” Addison said in a release. “This critical investment by the Albanian government will help provide small businesses with the skills they need to meet the cyber burden.”
Anne Da Cunha, head of small and medium businesses at Telstra, believes the program’s simple approach to the subject will help businesses improve.
“Managing small business risks online shouldn’t be a dark art. We believe the solution lies not only in protecting devices and your internet connection, but also in the cybersecurity culture you create,” said Da Cunha.
INVENT“Telstra is a proud founding partner of this program and welcomes the Government’s commitment to supporting small businesses.”
Luke Power, managing director of security firm Trellix, believes the program is a positive step forward for Australia’s future cyber preparedness.
“As the very backbone of Australia’s economy, accounts for 97 percent of the companies in the country todayit is encouraging to see the Cyber Wardens program prioritized in the budget, addressing a key challenge in the sector, which is a lack of resources,” Power told Cyber Security Connect via email.
“Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to ransomware attacks, CEO impersonation schemes and corporate email compromises and need practices in place to not only secure their operations but also the data they hold. From here is the importance of cyber security preparedness and dispelling the misconception that Australian small businesses are a weak link,” Power said.
“By giving small businesses the right tools, they can fulfill their responsibility to protect their everyday Australian customers.”
David Hollingworth
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years and has worked for a number of print and online titles in his career. He enjoys getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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