Cybersecurity – The Unfinished Business of Digital Transformation

Australia, Apr 1, 2025

Lisa Fortey, Acting General Manager, Logicalis Australia

Welcome Back – A Quick Recap 

If you’ve followed this blog series from the start—thank you for staying with us as we unpack the 2025 Australian federal budget’s impact on technology investment.

In Blog 1, we explored how AI, cloud, and cybersecurity are shaping the next wave of digital transformation, drawing insights from the Logicalis APAC CIO Report and ADAPT’s Top 10 CIO Priorities for 2025. We examined where funding is going and how organisations can align their strategies with these investments.

In Blog 2, we delved into AI adoption—separating hype from reality. We highlighted real-world AI use cases across industries, including government, financial services, healthcare, education, and retail, while addressing common challenges in AI adoption.

Now, let’s turn our focus to a critical enabler of all digital transformation: cybersecurity. 

Cybersecurity: The Unfinished Business of Digital Transformation 

With AI, automation, and hybrid cloud environments driving business innovation, cybersecurity has become a board-level priority. As cyber threats increase in frequency and sophistication, the Australian federal budget’s increased investment in cybersecurity signals a clear urgency, organisations must act now to strengthen their cyber resilience.

Key drivers making cybersecurity a top CIO concern include: 

  • AI-Driven Cyber Attacks – Cybercriminals are leveraging AI to enhance phishing, deepfake scams, and automated hacking, making breaches more frequent and damaging.
  • Expanding Attack Surfaces – The shift to remote work, IoT adoption, and hybrid cloud has multiplied vulnerabilities.
  • Regulatory Pressures – New data protection laws and compliance mandates are forcing businesses to enhance security governance.
  • Financial & Reputational Risk – A single breach can cost millions in damages and lead to severe brand trust erosion.

According to ADAPT’s CIO research:

  • 84% of CIOs see cybersecurity as their top boardroom concern.
  • 67% say their biggest struggle is securing hybrid cloud environments.
  • 58% consider cloud cost management and optimisation as a top priority  
  • 70% of CIOs say they are investing in Gen AI, meanwhile 35% of Aus CISOs render current cyber defences ineffective against AI threats.  

As businesses continue their AI and cloud transformations, cybersecurity can no longer be an afterthought—it must be embedded into every digital initiative. 

Government’s Role in Strengthening Cyber Resilience 

The Australian government is taking a proactive stance on cybersecurity, with increased funding and stricter compliance requirements across key industries. Notable initiatives include:

  • The 2025 Cyber Security Strategy – A $9.9 billion investment over 10 years to enhance national cyber defences.
  • New Critical Infrastructure Laws – Stricter regulations for industries like energy, banking, healthcare, and transport.
  • AI-Powered Threat Detection – Government agencies are leveraging AI for real-time threat monitoring and automated cyber incident response.

Logicalis + Cisco + Microsoft: A Powerful Security Partnership 

At Logicalis, we understand that managing cyber risk requires more than just reactive measures—it demands proactive, AI-driven security operations. That’s why we’ve built tight-knit partnerships with Cisco and Microsoft, enabling customers to access world-class cybersecurity solutions.

Security Operations Centre (SOC) for Proactive Threat Management – Our SOC solution, powered by Cisco and Microsoft technologies, provides 24/7 threat monitoring, detection, and incident response. By leveraging AI and machine learning, we help organisations identify vulnerabilities before they become breaches.

Newly Launched Cisco Managed XDR Solution – Logicalis is excited to introduce Cisco Managed Extended Detection & Response (XDR)—a game-changing security solution that automates threat detection, response, and investigation across cloud, endpoint, and network environments. This cutting-edge service helps businesses reduce response times, mitigate risks, and strengthen cyber resilience.

Zero Trust Security & AI-Driven Defence – We help businesses adopt a Zero Trust approach, ensuring that only verified users, devices, and workloads gain access to sensitive environments.

By combining Logicalis’ expertise, Cisco’s leading security solutions, and Microsoft’s advanced cloud security, we provide organisations with a comprehensive security framework to proactively combat cyber threats and ensure regulatory compliance.
 

The Final Takeaway: Cybersecurity as a Business Enabler

The message is clear - cybersecurity isn’t just an IT concern; it’s a business enabler. Organisations that embed security into their AI, cloud, and digital transformation strategies will not only protect themselves from threats but gain a competitive edge in an increasingly volatile cyber landscape.

This marks the conclusion of our three-part blog series on the Australian federal budget and its impact on technology investment. But the conversation doesn’t stop here.

  • What cybersecurity challenges are you facing today?
  • How are you aligning AI, cloud, and security in your digital strategy?

     

Connect with us at Logicalis—let’s shape a secure, innovative, and resilient digital future together. 

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