Optus, Singtel open cybersecurity centre in Sydney

Optus Business has announced opening its Advanced Security Operations Centre (ASOC) alongside Trustwave, offering managed cybersecurity services to enterprise and government customers.

The ASOC joins Optus and parent company Singtel's network of security operations centres, providing customers with access to data analytics, automated incident response, and threat intelligence, backed by Singtel's 2,000 security professionals and "elite" response team known as SpiderLabs.

"Cybercrime is a persistent, global threat. It is the number one economic crime in Australia ... business and government must be able to confidently operate, innovate, and maintain trust with customers and stakeholders in this evolving landscape," said Optus Business managing director John Paitaridis.

"The ASOC specifically provides proactive threat management, in-country forensic capabilities including incident response, access to best-of-breed cybersecurity technology partnerships, and combined threat intelligence, all consolidated within the centre to provide a truly global cyber view."

Singtel said it invested AU$10 million in the Optus ASOC, bringing its number of ASOCs up to eight worldwide, with the telco also planning to create another ASOC in Tokyo with Trustwave.

In September, Optus Business added cybersecurity prevention, detection, and monitoring capabilities to its government and enterprise managed security services portfolio, with the solution running on the Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform.

At the time, Singtel said the Palo Alto solution would bolster its existing cybersecurity mechanisms, meshing with its managed security services business unit, Trustwave, and providing managed security services through Singtel's ASOCs.

The Managed Advanced Threat Prevention (ATP) services consist of Palo Alto Networks' Next-Generation Firewall, Threat Intelligence Cloud, and Advanced Endpoint Protection products, with a solution developed between Optus, Singtel, and Palo Alto Networks.

The solution provides security across the cloud, mobile networks, and end points.

Optus Business has been focused on cybersecurity of late; last week, it co-invested AU$8 million alongside La Trobe University in Melbourne in order to form a cybersecurity degree and digitise the university and its Sports Park.

In regards to the cybersecurity-centric degree, Optus and La Trobe said they will work on developing, alongside other industry partners, multi-disciplinary courses, research programs, and scholarships for students to study cybersecurity.

The effort on digitising the university will see the two combine smart cities ideas and "living lab" solutions to connect all parts of the campus, including people movement, parking, security, and mapping.

They will apply data collection and analytics technology at La Trobe's Sports Park in order to research sports performance and community engagement in an effort to influence future sports partnership decisions.

Optus Business also co-invested AU$10 million with Macquarie University in May to establish a cybersecurity hub that will provide research, degree programs, executive and business short courses, professional recruiting opportunities, and consultancy services to the private sector and government agencies.