Verizon beefs up cyber intelligence with new security facility

Verizon Australia has strengthened its cyber security capabilities by opening a new security centre in Canberra.

The Asia-Pacific Advanced Security Operations Centre will provide real-time insights into cyber threats for both public and private customers, according to Verizon.

It was officially opened on Monday by Dan Tehan, the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Cyber Security.

The new centre complements Verizon’s nine other security operations centres around the world, which Verizon said together analyse more than 60 billion security events annually.

The company uses these facilities to monitor its own global communications network and externally provided threat intelligence through big data analytics.

Verizon’s regional managing director for Australia, New Zealand and India, Robert Le Busque, said organisations have to work hard to remain one step ahead of bad actors.

“The increased sharing of intelligence is vital to safeguarding Australia’s physical and online assets,” he said.

“Through this enhanced facility, our security experts will be able to collaborate more effectively with our public and private sector stakeholders to deliver more actionable insights.”

Last December, the Federal government announced that Verizon was one of the companies appointed to its new whole-of-government telecommunications panel.

Verizon said it provides ICT services to more than 75 Federal and State government agencies, as well as more than 25 other governments around the world.