Petroleum regulator tenders for SOC MDR service

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) has issued a Request for Tender (RFT) for the implementation of Microsoft Sentinel within an existing Microsoft Azure tenancy, in addition to the subsequent provision of Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Services as a Security Operations Centre (SOC).

NOPSEMA is an Australian regulator for health and safety, structural (well) integrity and environmental management for offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage activities in Commonwealth waters, and in coastal waters where regulatory powers and functions have been conferred.

The implementation phase involves designing, deploying, configuring and commissioning a Microsoft Sentinel SIEM within NOPSEMA’s Azure tenancy to serve as the foundation for NOPSEMA cybersecurity operations.

The SOC MDR operations phase involves the ongoing management, monitoring, and optimisation of the Microsoft Sentinel environment to ensure continuous protection against cyber threats. The provider will operate a fully managed SOC within NOPSEMA’s Azure tenancy, delivering proactive and reactive security services.

For major security incidents, the service provider may offer additional services as an extension of the SOC MDR service; for example 24x7 major security incident management to coordinate the response, containment, in-depth analysis of artifacts related to an intrusion, recovery, eradication and evidence collection efforts across the SOC, NOPSEMA, and external expertise (e.g. Microsoft, Fortinet, ACSC).

NOPSEMA completes an internal ASD Essential Eight Cyber Security Maturity assessment annually and has a potential requirement for the provision of an independent review of the internal Essential Eight assessment.

In addition, there could be recommendations from the service provider for additional Cyber Security assessment strategies further to the Essential Eight.

NOPSEMA may request a comprehensive risk-based remediation plan from the service provider, co-developed with NOPSEMA, aimed at addressing the identified deficiencies from the Cyber Security Maturity Assessment.

The closing date and time of the tender is 27February 2026 at 7:00 pm (ACT Local Time).