Research funded by the Australian Department of Defence finds the country may need a new type of weekend warrior for cyber conflict.
“One way to rapidly increase our defensive capabilities in the cyber domain is to learn from international experience in establishing a national cyber reserve force”, said Professor Dan Svantesson of Bond University and Fellow of the Nobel Institute in Oslo. “Sweden is involving volunteers in open-source intelligence. Finland has several effective cybersecurity volunteer units. Estonia has a long tradition of a Cyber home guard.”
The analysis also looks at Taiwan, Ukraine and the US. The work has been supported by interviews in a number of the target countries. The work is funded by the Strategic Policy Grants Program of the Department of Defence.
“We see that volunteers can play an important back-up role during a crisis or wartime in civil and military cyber security, information conflict, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), espionage, and proactive cyber operations”, Svantesson said.
Associate Professor Samuli Haataja, co-researcher on the project and cyber law specialist at Griffith University says that “the challenge now is to ensure Australia establishes a cyber volunteer force so the skills of cyber experts are ready to be harnessed in times of crisis or conflict. Australia has a lot to learn from what other countries are doing. Australia cannot become a world leader in cybersecurity without an effective cyber volunteer force”.
The researchers will present their findings and discuss future options at a webinar at 4pm Sydney time on 29 May 2025 hosted by the Social Cyber Institute, where Svantesson is a Senior Fellow.
For more information, visit https://www.socialcyber.co/event-details/national-cyber-reserve-forces-assessing-the-options.
Key Facts:
The idea of an Australia cyber reserve force has been the subject of public discussion since at least 2016 while successive governments and defence leaders have been non-commital. This project is the first independent review of overseas experience relying on primary research.
The Strategic Policy Grants Program (SPGP) is an annual, open and competitive grant opportunity designed to provide an external perspective on Defence strategic policy decision-making.
About us:
The Social Cyber Institute (SCI) creates new social science insights to complement technology in the fight for a more secure cyberspace. We have international reach through our Fellows program and our publications. SCI is a non-profit organisation supported financially by the Social Cyber Group.
Contact details:
Dan Svantesson [email protected]
Samuli Haataja [email protected]
Greg Austin (SCI Research Director) +61450190323 [email protected]