All Posts

Cyber Security Education: Principles and Policies

This book provides essential reference points for education policy on the new social terrain of security in cyberspace and aims to reposition global debates on what education for security in cyberspace can and should mean.

Editors

Jun 241 min read

Data on China’s PhD Completions Related to Cyber Security

This ACCS briefing paper analyses publicly available data on the main subjects of completed PhD dissertations in China to determine trends in completions across the separate subjects of cyber security, information security, quantum communications/quantum computing, and artificial intelligence.

Editors

May 132 min read

Profiles of Chinese Cyber Security Universities

This 2018 briefing paper assembles public source information on Chinese universities and several research institutes that are prominent in cybersecurity studies in China.

Editors

May 101 min read

Cyber Dependency at a Domestic and International Level

This 2016 literature review offers some insight into how scholars have studied cyber dependencies. The main studies present, in considerable depth, the growing importance of cyber assets in the daily functioning of society.

Editors

May 61 min read

Australia and Cyber-warfare

This book from 2008 describes the contemporary state of planning and thinking within the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with respect to Network Centric Warfare (NCW) at that time, and discusses the vulnerabilities that accompany the use by Defence of the National Information Infrastructure (NII), as well as Defence’s responsibility for the protection of the NII.

Editors

Apr 161 min read

Winning in the Digital Frontier: Developing Cyber Targeters and Military Daring

This 2024 article examines what is needed to marry a cyber targeter’s talent to the goal of system penetration and profound disabling effects that can defeat an adversary's kinetic capabilities.

Editors

Apr 142 min read

Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War on National Cyber Planning: A Survey of Ten Countries

This 2023 survey of 10 countries shows how radically they have responded to the unprecedented cyber operations during the Russia-Ukraine war. The report also flags important lessons about the strategic character of cyber operations in modern war.

Editors

Apr 102 min read

Quantum Sensing: Comparing the United States and China

This IISS Research Report concludes that the United States enjoys a comfortable lead over China in quantum-sensing research and development, owing in large part to the much larger scale of US efforts, their relative quality, the longer institutional development of research and education capabilities, and the superiority of the US quantum-sensing industry.

Editors

Apr 31 min read

Winning in the Cyber Frontier: Developing Cyber Targeters and Military Daring

This 2024 article examines what is needed to marry a cyber targeter’s talent to the goal of system penetration and profound disabling effects that can defeat an adversary's kinetic capabilities.

Editors

Mar 292 min read

Technology Impact Assessment for Peace and Stability: A Comparative Study on Australia and India

This 2025 paper seeks to strengthen consensus among key stakeholders in Australia and India regarding the importance of a joint technology assessment process.

Editors

Mar 261 min read

Technology Impact Assessment for Peace and Stability: Diplomatic Opportunities for Australia and India

The 2025 project aims to create a self-organising community of practice (CoP) inclusive of both countries, promoting its sustainability after the project's conclusion and potentially extending its influence on a wider multilateral scale.

Editors

Mar 251 min read

Creating Social Cyber Value

All security outcomes in cyberspace are determined by individuals, whose behaviour is shaped by their social setting, whether organisational or cultural. Yet there has been little evidence globally of the necessary adjustment of policy or practice that gives due weight to the social science dimensions.

Editors

Mar 172 min read

Disaster Resilience Commission

Australian policy response to the coronavirus outbreak has followed a two-step process, with containment the highest priority (the bio-medical and humanitarian view) and with economic and social consequences (a whole of society view) occupying a clear follow-on priority.

Editors

Mar 151 min read

Valuation of Reputation Damage for Transport Cyber Attack: Methods and Findings

Cybersecurity attacks have become a growing focus for many businesses and governments. A challenge in responding is to determine the level and allocation of cyber-security budgets.

Editors

Mar 91 min read

Evaluating Australian Cyber Policy Reform: Urgency, Coherence, and Depth

This 2023 paper reflects on a proposed system for benchmarking and evaluating cybersecurity strategies, assessing both the strategy's design and its implementation. In doing so, it critiques existing approaches as Australia emerges from what the government has described as a period of “cyber slumber.”

Editors

Mar 62 min read

Crowdsourcing an Australian cyber intelligence and information militia

Australia's existing public and private capacity, despite the increased emphasis on the cyber domain, is likely insufficient to counter the full range of threats it faces in cyberspace.

Editors

Feb 261 min read

Australia's Cyber Surge: The Motivations

Since 2022, Australia has significantly expanded its cyber and intelligence capabilities through major new investments. The scale of this expansion has prompted discussion of its geopolitical drivers and the implications for public and parliamentary oversight.

Editors

Feb 231 min read

Cyber Civil Preparedness and Resilience: Twin Strategic Imperatives

Australia’s 2025 cyber response plan introduces a “nationally catastrophic” incident category, but preparedness for such a crisis remains unclear. This paper argues that cyber civil preparedness and resilience must become central to national security policy.

Editors

Feb 192 min read

AUSTRALIA REARMED! Future Needs for CyberEnabled Warfare

In this 2016 paper, Greg Austin argues that Australia will need to develop complex responsive systems of decisionmaking for medium intensity war that address multi-vector, multi-front and multitheatre attacks in cyber space.

Editors

Feb 132 min read

Cover of the research paper on evaluating Australia's cyber reforms

Evaluating Australian Cyber Policy Reform: Urgency, Coherence, and Depth

There should be a single overarching evaluation of the entire strategy (to ensure coherence between policy pillars) every four years as well as separate evaluations of each policy pillar, every two years.

Editors

Feb 132 min read

The Social Cyber Institute uses its Research Highlights Blog to resurface key ideas from past research and activities of the Fellows of the Institute or their associates. This includes work published by other outlets but shaped by leaders or Fellows of the Social Cyber Institute in current or former roles. The Institute Blog does not function as a news commentary blog.