May 6th, 2024 – Kurt Hansen, CEO of Tesserent, a Thales Australia company and leading provider of cyber security services to government and the private sector, says that he hopes to see an acceleration in funding for cyber security that keeps pace with the ever-evolving threat landscape in the soon to be released Federal Budget.  

“Since the Albanese government’s overhaul of the $1.7B 10-year cyber security strategy we have seen the Federal Government work to boost sovereign capability and build a frontline cyber workforce to combat escalating threats from malicious state-based and criminal actors.
“We anticipate this budget will expand on existing commitments and are eagerly awaiting announcements on how much further investment will be made around AI, quantum computing and to help achieve the goal of ensuring Australia is the most secure nation by 2030.
“It is likely this budget will include more steps to uplift critical infrastructure protection and bolster our supply chains. As a nation we also need to urgently address the critical shortfall in people that industry desperately needs to meet an escalating threat environment. We would like to see more funding put towards addressing these challenges that threaten Australia’s national security and are taking a serious toll on Australian businesses,” he says. 

The Australian cyber security industry is suffering massive skill shortages across the sector, with more than 17,000 additional cyber security workers needed by 2026. “It is crucial that we continue to invest in strengthening our capability and increasing partnerships and knowledge sharing with the private sector. We must continue to invest in people and address skills shortages in the industry. Partnership between people and technology, industry and public sector is the key to improving cyber resilience,” he stresses.  

Tesserent is one of the largest cyber security providers in Australia and New Zealand to all levels of Federal and State Government along with more than 1000 clients in the corporate sector. Tesserent and Thales Australia work on many of Australia’s most sensitive defence programs, with critical infrastructure operators, government departments and the corporate sector.  

Tesserent’s 500-person strong team has more than 190 members that hold Australian Government security clearance. Tesserent Federal comprises Tesserent’s business units of North, Claricent and Pearson, based in Canberra and the largest provider of cybersecurity expertise to Tesserent’s Federal Government clients.  

“Tesserent is the largest single cyber consulting partner to the Federal Government in Canberra. Tesserent counts some of the most strategic government departments as trusted clients,” he explains. Tesserent is at the forefront of protecting Australia’s digital assets and offers the most in-depth global threat intelligence on offer in the Australian market.