Google is on the lookout for Australian hackers – not to admonish them for a hacking exploit, but to employ them for hard-to-fill cyber security positions at the search giant’s own business.
The ABC reports Google’s head of security for Google Chrome Parisa Tabriz as wanting to hire Australia's “best and brightest hackers” because of a difficulty finding the right mix of people to take up cyber security positions.
The 33-year old Iranian-American, who has been with Google for nine years, reportedly says "Sydney's actually been a really good recruiting spot for some security people because there's good universities that really help train cyber security professionals."
"I think finding the right people who have the skills of someone who can hack into a system but ultimately want to make it more secure and not use those skills for bad and are willing to also work in a big software company — it's hard to find that intersection of good people," Tabriz told the ABC.
{loadposition peter}The ABC says the number of people taking up information and communications technology degrees has halved over the last decade according to the Government's Cyber Security Strategy.
It also reports that the federal government expects demand for cyber security services and related jobs — such as legal services, insurance and risk management — will grow by at least 21% over the next five years.
The broadcaster cites comments by the Prime Minister's Special Adviser on Cyber Security, Alastair MacGibbon, that "it's not just scientists that we need and mathematicians that we need – we need a whole bunch of people in what is now not just a national security issue in the traditional sense of the word, but a national security issue in the true sense".
And, as reported by iTWire only two weeks ago, the giant US-based telco Veirzon announced it has strengthened its armoury in the fight against cyber adversaries with its investment in next-generation security capabilities at its Asia-Pacific Advanced Security Operations Centre in Canberra.
The newly-established Asia-Pacific Threat and Analytics Centre delivers real-time insights into cyber threats for both public and private sector customers.
The opening of the new security centre followed Verizon’s appointment last December to the federal government’s new whole of government telecommunications services panel which provides co-ordinated telecommunications services.