Mitigating Cyber-threats through Public-private Partnerships: Low Cost Governance with High-impact Returns

The realization that cyber threats can cause the same devastation to a country as physical security risks has taken the long route towards acceptance. Governments and businesses have thrown the glove of responsibility back and forth on numerous occasions, with government agencies citing the need for private enterprise to take up the mantle, and Business returning the gesture by proposing a ‘national’ perspective on cyber security. Ambit claims such as these drain a range of security resources when both sides should work in concert by directing all available energy towards resolving cyber-threats. This paper compares the public-private arrangements through Australasia in arguing the need for new modes of governance across cyber-security initiatives. Whilst critical infrastructure partnerships accept the need for joint operations – the broader information technology (IT) security industry has yet to embrace the same.