The Australian cybersecurity landscape for technology partners is rapidly evolving, marked by intensified legal scrutiny and proliferating obligations.

This techpartner.news State of Channel Security report aims to equip the channel’s senior decision makers with insights into critical areas, from cloud security to data protection.

Our first chapter explores cloud security's new frontier. Regulation-driven investment in cloud security is predicted to reach $2.6 billion by 2030, yet Liam Furlong (Co-owner the Virtual IT Department) warns of difficulties when customers expect tech partners to secure and govern opaque and inaccessible third-party environments. Daniel Grzelak (Plerion chief innovation officer) spotlights the dangerous trend of hard-coding credentials into environments is back on an upswing due to rapid AI deployment.

Chapter two delves into the increasing scrutiny applied to digital identity. It details the Commonwealth’s implementation of a secure, voluntary and universal digital identity for transacting with it. An auspicious entry as a CISO Lens survey finds identity and access management is the top priority for 52 percent of Australian CISOs. Jane Standish (director digital government lead) believes that, after 40 years of debate, Australians are ready for a ‘Digital Australia Card’ – something that tech partners will soon deliver. Just as long as tech partners first manage their own risks, says Claire Harris (senior tech lawyer, G+T). And Troy Hunt (founder HaveIBeenPwned.com) reminds tech partners why they should advocate to disclose when breaches of customer systems put Australians’ digital identities on the line.

Chapter three discusses how to balance risk vs reward, Robert Buck (Diamond IT MD) highlighting that governance, risk and compliance (GRC) is more than ticking boxes but a way to ventilate a deeper cyber security conversation with customers. Matthew Jarvis (Daraco national sales lead) is one of those cautioning that regulatory demands may conflict, and it takes a savvy tech partner to thread the nuances – especially in an age of AI and rapidly evolving obligations. And James Turner (CISO Lens Founder & CEO) cautions that CISOs grow weary of the ageing Essential Eight.

Finally, chapter four canvasses what data protection and stewardship means in 2025 as Kat McCrabb (Flame Tree Cyber founder and director) paints a bleak picture of emergent ‘Harvest now, Decrypt later’ post-quantum exploits. Grant Crough (Leap Strategies CISO) rails at customers who hide behind third parties in their data breach disclosures and warns that AI agents are breaching internal data repositories in their efforts to be helpful. And we propose tech partners shift their conversation from ‘Data is the new oil’ to evangelising ‘data stewardship’ instead.

State of Channel Security 2025 was created using insights, research, and opinion from industry analysts, as well as interviews with leaders at technology partner organisations.

Hear from Australian tech partners including:

• Simone Blackadder – Special Counsel, Baker McKenzie
• Robert Buck – MD, Diamond IT
• Grant Crough – Founder & CISO, Leap Strategies
• Lisa Fortey – GM Australia, Logicalis
• Liam Furlong – Co-owner, the Virtual IT Department
• Daniel Grzelak – Chief Innovation Officer, Plerion
• Claire Harris – Senior Lawyer, Gilbert + Tobin
• Troy Hunt – Founder, HaveIBeenPwned
• Matthew Jarvis – National Sales Lead, Daraco
• Ahmed Latif – CEO & Director, Linktech
• Kat McCrabb – Founder & Director, Flame Tree Cyber
• Rohan Milne – CEO, Switch Connect
• Nathan Morelli – Head of Cyber Security and IT Resilience, SAPN
• Jane Standish – Director Digital Government Lead, CyberCX
• James Turner – Founder & MD, CISO Lens