A joint American-Australian government program is getting a $3 million funding under the Next Generation Technologies Fund’s (NGTF) cybersecurity program.
The Australian Department of Defense has announced that Australia will lead the project vide the University of Melbourne, Macquarie University, and the University of Newcastle; the Australian universities are collaborating with the University of Wisconsin.
Researchers from these universities will work on autonomous systems and their utility in cybersecurity. The researchers will try to develop new autonomous cybersecurity systems using cyber bots, which at a certain stage of their work will work in coordination with each other like a swarm.
The program will also show the interaction of cyber bots with humans to implement cybersecurity and prevent potential future cyber attacks.
The Australia-US Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (AUSMURI) program will prioritize defense in cyberspace; in recent years cyberspace has emerged as a challenging and unfavorable environment.
“This research aligns with Defense’s Science Technology and Research programs, known as STaR Shots. It provides another valuable opportunity to work alongside counterparts in the United States,” said Dr. Kershaw.
According to the Australian Ministry of Defense, the AUSMURI NGTF program will run for around nine years and will receive a total of around $25 million. The Australian military sees the program as being very useful for the development of weapons systems, future troops, and control of possible future conflicts.
In recent years, Australia has purposefully intensified the integration of educational institutions, NGOs, and private companies into research areas.
