About Cyber Week

Cyber Week provides opportunities for Australian cyber security and related organisations to showcase their capabilities and network with peers, potential investors, and customers. It also provides a great way for cyber curious individuals and organisations to better understand what cyber security can do and mean for them.

AustCyber announces the return of the annual Australian Cyber Week, a week-long series of events and activities, this year to be held from 25-29 October 2021.

The week combines virtual and in-person sessions to generate awareness about the Australian cyber security industry and showcase local innovation. It will also support increased understanding of cyber security by debating topical issues, risks and solutions, and facilitate national and global networking.

“Cyber Week 2021 is one of AustCyber's flagship activities under our mission to grow a globally competitive Australian cyber security sector,” said Michelle Price, CEO of AustCyber. “Cyber Week helps to demystify the cyber security industry and connects Australian cyber capabilities with key domestic and international stakeholders who are contributing to the growth and success of the sector. This creates further opportunities to enhance future economic growth.”

Take a sneak peek at Austcyber's 3D Circuit Board City for Cyber Week 2021, a virtual events platform unique to the industry. The platform is presented as a ‘cyber festival’ where you can zoom into the ‘internet of things’ to access a theatre/auditorium, lobby, networking lounge and exhibition hall with booths.

In 2021, AustCyber is again utilising its virtual conference platform as the cornerstone infrastructure to deliver Australian Cyber Week, which features 100% Australian technology. The 3D ‘circuit board city’ is the gateway to daily live events and knowledge library of past events, as well as a networking hub and exhibition hall showcasing booths which feature sovereign products and services. Online events will be complemented by in-person events in South Australia and Western Australia, facilitated through AustCyber's National Network of Cyber Security Innovation Nodes.

“Each day, Australian Cyber Week has a feature event to demonstrate our globally competitive cyber security ecosystem,” said Ms Price. “The range of speakers is broad – from CEOs of large corporates and venture capital investors, to ethical hackers, school students with a keen interest in cyber, and those in minority groups working within the sector.”

To underline the importance of digital trust in keeping our digital activity secure and resilient, during an event on 25 October, guest speakers will walk through a significant cyber attack on Australia through a hypothetical situation that seeks to draw out complexities and considerations for all organisations. The equivalent event during last year's Cyber Week was one of the most attended and attracted a range of domestic and international media interest.

Under siege: Are we ready for a cyber attack on Australia's hospital system? (hypothetical) is on Monday 25 October at 5:30pm

With the workforce expected to grow by at least 7,000 over the next three years, experts from the ANU, University of Canberra, UNSW, Canberra Institute of Technology and industry will come together on 26 October to discuss career pathways and upskilling and micro-credentialing a remote workforce.

Ten of Australia's most innovative companies will present pitches to the audience during an event on 27 October, who will be able to invest fake dollars and vote for their favourite product or solution. The Tasmania Cyber Security Innovation Node is also running the online Big Cyber Ideas Challenge.

On 28 October, the key event will be a debate on the current state of procurement and policy as it relates to the emerging technology sectors within Australia. The host will ask the big questions of guests, with two teams - affirmative and negative - battling it out to highlight the opportunities, challenges and required actions to uplift procurement across the nation.

The great Australian funding debate is on Thursday 28 October at 5:30pm

On 29 October, dubbed ‘community day’, Australian company OSINT Combine will facilitate an instructor-led full day of open-source intelligence (OSINT) training for participants to learn open source fundamentals, searching essentials and cross-platform social media network analysis. This will be useful training for the National Missing Persons Hackathon, which has been postponed until early 2022.

OSINT Combine: Full-day Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Training is on Friday 29 October from  9:30am - 2:00pm

The week-long program will also see workshops hosted by DTEX Systems and Retrospect Labs, a clinic about cyber resilience for small businesses from Kangaroo Island, as well as panels on diversity and digital forensics. There are also a series of moments to facilitate networking, including new online platform features that allow participants and panelists to communicate and exchange details. In a new feature of the line-up, online cyber escape room sessions will allow participants to immerse themselves in an Australian cyber-attack scenario, as they solve problems to escape a hypothetical Special Operations Command Centre.

Australian Cyber Week 2021 runs Monday 25 - Friday 29 October

For more information visit www.cyberweek2021.austcyber.com.

Hosted by AustCyber, a National Network of Cyber Security Innovation Nodes designed to foster and accelerate cyber capability development and innovation across Australia. 

Article first published Friday 17 September 2021 by AustCyber