Australasia 2025

Cybersecurity Awareness Month

1️⃣ Government

Australia – Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC)

  • Campaign: Cyber Security Awareness Month (officially run by ACSC under Home Affairs).
  • 2025 Plan: Theme expected to expand on 2024’s “BeCyberSmart” (focus: strong passphrases, MFA, scam awareness, software updates).
  • Activities: national social campaign, gov toolkit for businesses, schools, councils.
  • 🔗 Cyber.gov.au Awareness Month
  • 📩 Contact: asd.assist@defence.gov.au

New Zealand – CERT NZ

  • Campaign: Cyber Smart Week (held each October, aligned with global CSAM).
  • 2025 Focus: Practical online safety tips for individuals & SMEs: MFA, password managers, scam recognition.
  • 🔗 CERT NZ Cyber Smart Week
  • 📩 Contact: info@cert.govt.nz

Pacific Islands (Regional)

  • Supported mostly by Australian DFAT + ACSC funding, training regional CERTs (e.g. Fiji CERT, Tonga CERT) with October awareness events but fewer public campaigns.

2️⃣ Educational / Semi-Government

Australia

  • University of Melbourne – Centre for Cyber Security Research (CSRC): Runs October public seminars, national awareness tie-ins. 🔗 CSRC Melbourne Uni
  • UNSW Institute for Cyber Security (IFCYBER): Awareness events, workshops during October. 🔗 unsw.edu.au/cybersecurity
  • TAFE Colleges (e.g. TAFE NSW): Often run October awareness short courses supported by ACSC.

New Zealand

  • University of Auckland – Cybersecurity Research Hub: Holds Cyber Smart Week linked events. 🔗 UoA Cybersecurity
  • Victoria University of Wellington (VUW): Through School of Engineering & Computer Science, awareness week events + workshops.

3️⃣ Big Tech (Regional Operations)

As with NA + SA → Big Tech dominates messaging in Australasia too:

  • Google Australia & NZ → runs localized Be Internet Awesome + October security campaigns. 🔗 Google Safety AU
  • Microsoft AU/NZ → Awareness blogs, partnerships with ACSC, publishes guides in October. 🔗 Microsoft Security Blog AU
  • Telstra (Australia’s largest telecom) → Joins ACSC campaign, public workshops, phishing scam warnings. 🔗 Telstra Security
  • Spark NZ → Campaign for Cyber Smart Week, adds scam filters, social media outreach. 🔗 Spark NZ Security

4️⃣ Private / Independent (Non–Big Tech)

This is where Australasia has some interesting players beyond ACSC + Big Tech:

  • AISA (Australian Information Security Association)
    • Campaign: Runs October chapter events nationwide (webinars, industry seminars, student competitions).
    • 🔗 AISA Events
    • 📩 admin@aisa.org.au
  • CyberCX (Australia/NZ) – regional private cybersecurity firm.
    • Provides free October webinars, blogs, reports for CSAM.
    • 🔗 CyberCX
  • AuSec (Australia Security Research community groups) – meetups aligning with ACSC themes.
  • Privacy Foundation NZ – ties Cyber Smart Week into broader digital rights campaigns.

✅ Summary (Australasia 2025):

  • Gov: ACSC (Australia), CERT NZ (Cyber Smart Week), Pacific CERT training.
  • Edu: Universities like Melbourne, UNSW, Auckland, VUW run events.
  • Big Tech: Google, Microsoft, Telstra, Spark NZ adopt and customise ACSC/NZ themes.
  • Private Non–Big Tech: AISA (professional association, active), CyberCX (regional cyber firm), Privacy Foundation NZ (civil org).