Google to help boost digital security of critical infrastructure in Australia

Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) unit Google and Australia’s national science agency will collaborate to build digital tools which will automatically identify and fix software vulnerabilities for operators of critical infrastructure, aiming to fight the growth in cyberattacks.

Under the collaboration, Google and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, or CSIRO, will develop tools and frameworks that help Australian critical infrastructure, or CI, operators meet vital obligations around software supply chain security.

The tools and frameworks will focus on identifying and fixing vulnerabilities in open source software components that have become an important part of digital transformation for Australia’s critical infrastructure, which includes everything from public utilities and hospitals to freight networks and groceries, CSIRO said in a press release on Thursday.

“This partnership builds upon a successful track record of AI-powered innovation, demonstrating the transformative power of Google and CSIRO’s expertise,” said CSIRO’s Project Lead Ejaz Ahmed.

CSIRO will work with the Google Open Source Security Team and Google Cloud to develop novel AI-powered tools for automated vulnerability scanners and data protocols which can quickly identify and assess the impact of open source vulnerabilities on Australian critical infrastructure operators’ software supply chains.

Google Cloud will provide infrastructure and solutions, including machine learning and Big Data capabilities plus domain specific large language models, to accelerate the partnership’s research and translate it into tools or as-a-service offerings for CI operators.

CSIRO and Google will also team up to design a secure framework that gives CI operators clear guidance on how to meet current requirements and a baseline for future ones.

Earlier this month, CSIRO and Google Australia announced a multifaceted collaboration to accelerate AI adoption in science. The collaboration, which is part of an existing five-year partnership between the two parties, aims to boost the use of AI in the Australian research community through joint research, education, training and support.

Google said in 2021 that it intended to spend A$1B ($675M) in Australia over five years.