Australia’s national science agency will partner with Google to develop digital tools that will automatically detect and fix software vulnerabilities for operators of critical infrastructure, looking for a one-stop solution to combating the surge in cyberattacks.
According to Google, the software for organisations such as hospitals, defence bodies and energy suppliers will be customised to heed with Australia’s regulatory environment.
The Australian government has been clamping down on tougher requirements on critical infrastructure operators to report and prevent cyberattacks after a series of breaches in the past two years left the personal information of half the country’s 26 million population vulnerable.
The research partnership will match up Google’s existing open source vulnerability database and artificial intelligence services with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s (CSIRO) research methods, the two parties remarked in a statement.
Google further revealed how the plan was part of a five-year commitment it made in 2021 to spend $1 billion ($675 million) Australian dollars in Australia at a time when the country’s push for tougher regulation of global tech firms had cooled relations with the U.S. firm.
What They’re Saying
Stefan Avgoustakis, head of security practice for Google Cloud in Australia and New Zealand had said;
“Software supply chain vulnerabilities are a global issue, and Australia has led the way in legislative measures to control and combat the risks.”