Perth’s Edith Cowan University (ECU) has opened the southern hemisphere’s biggest Security Operations Centre (SOC) within a university.
The cutting-edge, AUD$3 million SOC will offer Perth students firsthand experience in cyber operations and technology and responding to cyber security threats.
“The SOC will give students unique training in monitoring, detecting and responding to cyber security incidents,” said Professor Andrew Woodward, Executive Dean, School of Science, Edith Cowan University.
“There are only a handful of universities in the world that offer this capability.”
Included in the new facility is a 24-seat training lab, designed to familiarise students with the SOC environment and introduce students to open and closed source SOC and security information and event management (SIEM) platforms. This space also has the ability to function as an Open Source Intelligence Centre (OSIC).
With the soaring costs of cybercrime threatening Australian and global businesses, the cyber security industry is set to replace the mining sector as the next jobs boom in Australia.
It is expected the global cyber security workface shortage will reach upwards of 1.8 million cyber security professionals by 2022.
“Edith Cowan University is committed to addressing the massive skills shortage facing the government and industry in this area,” said ECU Vice-Chancellor Professor Steve Chapman.
“Our investment in this SOC ensures that ECU will give our students to access the necessary skills to be work-ready graduates. We are proud to be leading the field in training the cyber security leaders of the future,” he said.
The SOC was opened on January 29 by Australia’s Home Affairs Deputy Secretary with responsibility for our national cyber security policy, Marc Ablong PSM.
“We need to encourage more students to undertake studies in cyber security and related courses,” said Deputy Secretary Ablong.
The SOC opening is unique to the Asia-Pacific region and further cements ECU’s reputation as Australia’s foremost cyber university.
Visit www.ecu.edu.au