Transforming online risk resilience hardening

Scientific challenge: How can we increase technology users’ online risk resilience and make cybersecurity culture more tangible through targeted online risk resilience hardening?

Cybersecurity is a complex global phenomenon where different populations interact, and the infection of one person creates risk for another. Despite more and more privacy laws and global awareness of privacy content and consent, more and more people are falling victim to privacy related online cyber events. In the fast paced world of online data exchanges and global data sharing at the speed of light, online users need to be able to bounce back to a secured state as soon as possible after an incident. Therefore, building online risk resilience needs to be a main focus of any cyber technology user. Given the dynamics and scope of cyber campaigns, the best way to address the lack of cybersecurity awareness and to instil a cyber culture within cyber users is to transform the current approach to cybersecurity awareness. By shifting the focus to online risk resilience hardening, cyber users become the centre of design, with knowledge material becoming more accessible, easy-to-understand, easy-to-follow and relevant to the target audience. The overall challenge of this capability is to change the perception that people have about cybersecurity awareness. How can we encourage Australians to take cybersecurity seriously? How can we instil a permeating cybersecurity culture within people interfacing with the cyber domain?

Although a number of different cybersecurity approaches exist globally, the rate of dynamism within the cyber space is increasing, and the rate of cyber infections and resultant financial losses are growing. By furthering our understanding of the human user’s thought patterns, decision making approaches and online behaviour, we aim to more accurately predict targeted vulnerabilities within user groups. This will enable us to present vulnerable user groups with a more targeted and tailored online risk resilience hardening experience. By empowering technology users to immerse themselves into a tailored hardening experience, the overall perception towards traditional cybersecurity awareness will be improved. Users will experience a cyber approach that are more aligned with societal needs and requirements.

Our aim is to gain a better understanding of the target audiences by working with them to measure the relevancy of planned and delivered cybersecurity awareness campaigns. This approach will enable the Distributed Systems Security group to use data provided by the stakeholders to prepare a relevant and useful cybersecurity experience. The challenge is to position cyber as an innovation enabler to address cyber solutions as required by individual clients and stakeholders. The ultimate focus of this scientific challenge is to enhance people’s ability to use connected technology more powerfully in an ever-connected world, and scaling this to a global level.