Australia's Optus Business has revealed plans to invest A$3.5 million ($2.6 million) into the government's new cyber security co-operative research center (CRC).
The operator has signed a seven-year agreement to provide the CRC with direct access to its dedicated team of cyber security experts and industry and academic partners.
The cyber security CRC is a government initiative to bring together the public sector with industry and academia to develop technologies to improve Australia's cyber defenses. Since launching in September it has already received commitments worth over A$139 million.
“No matter who you are, or what you do, cybercrime is a persistent and growing threat,” Optus Business managing director John Paitaridis said.
“By working together we can build an ecosystem to maintain a resilient, secure and trustworthy cyber capability in Australia, and Optus is proud to have a crucial role in this through our many partnerships and now through the Cyber Security CRC.”
Optus Business is the business division of major operator Optus, which is itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singtel.