Cyber warfare presents major 'science fiction' threat to Defence: Alastair MacGibbon

Former Australian Cyber Security Centre head Alastair MacGibbon, who is now chief strategy officer for CyberCX, believes cyber warfare will play an important role in future conflicts across the world.

Sometimes referred to as the fifth domain, after land, sea, air and space, warfare in the cyber realm had advanced so far, it was now mirroring science fiction, he said.

"Subs being prevented from leaving port, or planes turned around mid-air, or tanks stopped in their tracks or turned around against the force that thought they owned them," Mr MacGibbon said.

"We spend a lot of money and effort trying to connect our soldiers and sailors and airmen and women up to technology.

"But those vulnerabilities and technology will be exploited by the enemy. It's a given as we will want to do exactly the same things to them.

"That sounds like science fiction to people but it's the reality."

The former cyber advisor to prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said the threats were ever-increasing and government agencies, including Defence, needed to remain in-step with the changing landscape.

"I describe it as chasing a curve, right? Whenever you think you've got your eyes set on the horizon, the horizon kind of moves with you," he said.

"The threat actors are more active, what you're trying to protect is more complex and the consequences of failure increase by the day as we get more connected.

"You constantly feel like you're trying to catch up."

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Adding to the pressure on units within Defence, Mr MacGibbon said the cyber and technology gap between Western nations and developing countries had closed considerably in the last 20 years.

It's resulted in a levelling of the cyber battlefield but he warned certain countries didn't comply with strong governance rules surrounding the ethics of using offensive cyber methods.

"For a long time, the West saw itself as the dominant technological force. I just don't believe that's the case now," he said.

"Our hope, of course, is that we're [still] technologically, and cyber-wise, more advanced than our enemy."

With a constantly and rapidly evolving threat, the former cyber tsar wants government agencies and businesses to not just be aware of the threats and tick the requisite boxes for cyber compliance, but to actively consider cyber security at every stage.

"You can be compliant, but not necessarily secure," he said.

He compared it to a scenario many will be familiar with - COVID spread among a mostly-vaccinated population. Just because a person is vaccinated doesn't mean someone should willingly enter situations where the risk of catching COVID is high.

"No matter what you spend, and how much you do, there is always degrees of insecurity," he said.

"But that doesn't mean you don't do something about.

"[Cyber security] can't ... be dealt with by just some technical people in a corner somewhere.

"Once we make it mainstream, we'll deal with it in a much more rational way."

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