Share this article on:
RMIT, working with the Australian Lithuanian Cyber Research Network, has today unveiled Australia’s first hybrid threat centre.
As a member of NATO, Lithuania has been a leader in addressing these threats.
The co-convenor of the Australian Lithuanian Cyber Research Network, Professor Darius Štitilis of Mykolas Romeris University in Lithuania, said: “Lithuania has been facing hybrid cyber threats for several years, mainly from the Russian side.”
“Over the past few years, Lithuania has acquired some experience and seeks to share this experience with other countries, as well as to further research preventive measures and countermeasures against hybrid threats. The established centre is an example of such activity, as well as a great example of cooperation between Lithuania and Australia.”
Professor Matt Warren, director of RMIT’s Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation and co-convenor of the Australian Lithuanian Cyber Research Network, told us a little bit more about the Australian Lithuanian Hybrid Threat Centre, and how it is going to operate.
“It is a research-based centre,” Professor Warren told us from Lithuania, where he attended the centre’s launch. “The centre itself will be running as a virtual centre between Australia and Lithuania and with physical facilities at the RMIT Cyber Hub at Bourke Street, Melbourne. This is the first time that a joint cyber research infrastructure has been set up between Australia and Lithuania.
“In terms of resources, the hybrid threat centre will draw from cyber security researchers from the RMIT University Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation (which has 50-plus researchers) and cyber security researchers from Mykolas Romeris University.
“Additional dedicated researchers will come on board in 2023 linked to projects.”
The Australian Lithuanian Hybrid Threat Centre will focus on five key areas:
You can have a look at the launch of the centre in the video below, and you can read the centre’s first threat discussion paper, focusing on the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline in September, here.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.