OzTech: Tech Central cybersecurity research facility, and first scaleup tenants; Queensland education providers must improve cybersecurity

Tech Central announces cybersecurity research facility

Sydney’s awaited tech precinct will house a research and innovation facility from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) dubbed Vault. UTS Vault will enable collaboration between private-sector tenants and a public university to advance research and commercialisation in cybersecurity and defence technology.

According to the New South Wales government, the purpose-built facility is “Department of Defence-compliant”.

Sydney-based Morse Micro is expected to bring fresh talent to Tech Central every six months through its graduate program. The company, which will remain in its Surry Hills office, announced plans of recruiting a new R&D team and will hire system architects, chip designers, and firmware engineers.

The way the idea of the precinct works is that beyond the physical location, where Atlassian plans to be headquartered once ready, it exists in six central neighbourhoods in Sydney, which is why some companies won’t be moving from their existing offices but still be considered a part of Tech Central.

Stone & Chalk names first residents for Tech Central’s scaleup hub

Tech Central’s scaleup hub, which will be operated by Stone & Chalk, has revealed its first seven residents: Australia-based Downsizer, Nudge Group, Open Sparkz, New Zealand-based Education Perfect, US-based Nano Dimension, China-based Pax Technology, and UK-based Swoop Funding.

Cybersecurity needs to improve for education providers in Queensland

The latest Queensland Audit Office report into education has found that the security of education providers information systems needs to improve, immediately. This includes the state’s higher education providers, vocational studies, and schools.

“We continue to identify weaknesses in the entities’ information systems. While the entities are continually improving the security of their systems, the risk of cyberattacks continues to increase. The sensitive nature of information the entities hold about students and research makes them an attractive target,” said the Queensland Audit Office in the report.

In response to this, the audit office has expanded its testing and identified more weaknesses. It recommended immediate action and reiterated the same recommendation was made in 2021.

There were 55 weaknesses found in the security information systems and all entities need strong security practices “and must emphasise the importance of them — in their processes and to their staff — in protecting against fraud or error and significant reputational damage”, according to the report.