Thales Australia opens sovereign cyber Security Operations Centre in nation’s capital to protect Government and Critical Infrastructure clients

• Thales Australia has opened a sovereign and protected cyber Security Operations Centre (SOC) in Canberra to protect Government and Critical Infrastructure clients through defence-grade Detection and Response services developed with Google Cloud’s technology.
• The collaboration between Thales and Google has resulted in industry leading cyber security solutions for Australia’s government and critical infrastructure.

• Thales’ sovereign cyber managed services mean client data does not leave Australia and is handled by pre-vetted staff, providing secure connectivity through trusted, third party defence-grade services.

A team of Australia’s most skilled cyber operators, utilising Thales Australia’s defence-grade cyber technologies and unmatched international cyber domain expertise will be embedded within a new secure cyber facility in Canberra developed with Google Cloud’s technology.

The collaboration means Thales’s expertise in cyber detection and response, including its security-cleared workforce and accredited infrastructure (including at the ‘Protected’ security classification) will be amplified by Google Cloud's widely acclaimed intelligence-driven, AI-powered Google Security Operations platform.

Located in Deakin within Thales Australia’s Canberra facility, the SOC is staffed by security-cleared SOC analysts and incident responders. The SOC will:

• Support and secure Government, Public Sector and Enterprise clients in a dynamic cyber threat and regulatory environment, including protecting our Critical Infrastructure, Systems of National Significance and Systems of Government Significance.
• Provide 24/7/365 surveillance of critical IT and OT systems to guarantee immediate breach detection and significantly reduce mean-time to response.

• Combine both Thales and Google’s expertise in agentic-AI security operations and cyber threat intelligence, including Thales Australia’s unique understanding through ongoing missions across the land, sea, air, space and cyber operating environments.

The Canberra SOC offers sovereign cyber managed services, meaning client data does not leave Australia and is handled only by pre-vetted staff. The centre will grow in national importance as other Cyber companies continue to move offshore and threats to Australia continue to accelerate in size, scale and sophistication.

Thales – the sovereign Australian defence company tasked with stewarding some of Australia’s most critical defence capabilities – also hosts a co-located data centre within the Canberra facility (with redundant hosting interstate). Thales’ facility leverages both unique fibre connectivity to government infrastructure and our Defence Industry Security Program (DISP) accreditation, offering defence-grade cyber and technology solutions at a variety of security classifications.

Jacqui Kernot, Vice President, Cybersecurity, Thales Australia:

"Thales is delighted to open our Canberra SOC, enabled by Google Security Operations, to support our Government and Critical Infrastructure clients. We combine the latest cyber technologies, threat intelligence capabilities and our security-cleared experts to support clients that hold some of Australia’s most sensitive data with one of the most advanced suites of cyber services available in the market.”

Sandeep Patil, Head of Security Partners and Managed Security Services, JAPAC, Google:

“Every aspect of this joint offering, engineered with Google Security Operations, is supercharged with Google AI. This infusion of AI, leveraging our industry-leading threat intelligence, allows security teams to detect more threats, minimise toil and boost productivity. This strategic synergy ensures that Australian organisations can confidently run on a trusted cloud platform and secure their digital transformations against the most sophisticated adversaries.”

About Thales in Australia

Thales in Australia is a trusted partner of the Australian Defence Force in the Land, Sea and Air environment. Thales employs over 4,300 people in Australia, across 35 sites and supports over 2,000 jobs along its Australian supply chain.

Thales Cybersecurity can deliver layers of trust across platforms and processes that touch every aspect of Australian society and business. Thales Cybersecurity is already directly protecting the identities and data of more than a million Australians through our digital ID solutions that incorporate privacy-by-design. We keep operational technology (OT) mission ready. In addition, we provide tech-powered cyber threat intelligence, as we bridge the physical-digital gap in critical infrastructure protection.

CONTACTS

Thales Australia Media: media.enquiries@thalesgroup.com.au