Australian Signals Directorate and ANU on the hunt for 'spy kids' through Co-Lab program

The Australian Signals Directorate and academics at the Australian National University are on the hunt for the country's next spy kids, who will lead the future charge against foreign adversaries and offshore criminals posing threats against the country.

The university's new grants program, Co-Lab, will offer students undertaking research projects in their Honours year with an $8000 grant to collaborate with signals analysts and ANU academics.

The cyber spy agency is on the look out for students focusing their studies on mathematics, engineering, computer science, linguistics, statistics, psychology, sociology and languages.

Assistant Defence Minister Andrew Hastie welcomed the announcement, pointing out the skills were more important than ever as new threats emerge in the cyber domain.

"ASD achieve their mission by delivering foreign signals intelligence, cyber security and offensive cyber operations," he said.

"The cyber battlefield, more than ever, needs those Australians with a rare mix of specialist skills, adaptability and imagination to defend the nation against the most sophisticated adversaries.

"ASD's technical experts, in conjunction with ANU researchers, will offer 30 Honours students bespoke training, career guidance and mentoring while working on real-world problems in real-world settings."

Budding cyber spies are encouraged to apply for the grants program with ANU vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt adding it was a field that would be high in demand in the coming years.

"This is a vital initiative as so much our modern society relies on cyber - and the field will only continue to grow," Professor Schmidt said.

"Our students will work with the country's leading agency on cybersecurity to help build and secure the future."

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Australian Signals Directorate boss Rachel Noble warned on Thursday her agency was facing a serious threat of malicious state actors and offshore cyber criminals seeking to undermine national security and international stability.

She added the world is facing "one of the most strategically uncertain times" in recent history and her agency was increasingly becoming the "first and last line of digital defence" against cyber adversaries.

Intelligence gathering, reconnaissance and pre-positioning malicious software were among some of hacking attempts undertaken by foreign actors and criminal syndicates with a quarter of cyber incidents referred to the agency last year relating to critical infrastructure.

But she said the ASD was well-placed to deal with them.

"We never seek conflict," she said.

"But we do want our adversaries to know that we are here. We want them to calculate: today is not the day."

But the agency head added it was not a toothless tiger if things escalated in the cyber domain.

"ASD is here to provide intelligence and effects to help avoid miscalculation and conflict, and if the worse happens, to shorten it and win it," she said.