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Charles Sturt University lecturer project could serve as the “last line of defence” against growing ransomware attacks.
A lecturer researching his PhD thesis has evolved his work into what he calls Ransomware Resilient File Safe Havens, or the REDWIRE project.
Dr Arash Mahboubi – senior lecturer in computing ate the Charles Sturt School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering – said that REDWIRE “addresses a critical gap in existing cyber security defences, providing a last line of defence to safeguard sensitive data from ransomware threats”.
REDWIRE only comes into effect when upper-layer security platforms fail to stop a threat. It utilises resilient and secure cloud storage capable of facing up to increasingly sophisticated ransomware attacks by creating data-safe havens.
So far, Mahboubi’s project has been tested by the NSW Department of Customer Service and has achieved a Technology Readiness Level rating of seven, the highest ranking possible. The CSIRO’s Data61 and the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre.
Mahboubi said ransomware can have a striking impact on its victims.
“These impacts extend to both individuals and organisations, leading to psychological distress, financial losses, reputational damage, operational disruption, and potential legal ramifications,” Mahboubi said.
“Ransomware developers continuously refine their tactics, making these threats increasingly sophisticated and pervasive.”
However, according to Mahboubi, technology alone can’t solve the ransomware problem; collaboration and information-sharing are key.
“Research in this domain must not remain theoretical but must be actively supported and adopted by businesses to enhance real-world cyber security resilience,” he said.
“This is a goal we are striving to achieve at Charles Sturt University,” Mahboubi said.
Dr Seyit Camtepe, co-researcher on the REDWIRE project, said that loss of data to ransomware attacks remains a problem despite the wide number of cyber security platforms designed to defend against such attacks.
“This project materialised a decade of novel research into a future-proof solution enabling data protection and availability even when end-point computers are infected,” Camtepe said.
“The solution does not replace the existing security solutions but identifies and fills a significant gap to ensure those solution’s efficacy.”
According to ransomware tracker Ransomware.live, Australia has already faced more than 30 ransomware attacks in 2025 alone and is the eighth-most targeted country in the world.
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.
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