Transform Your Cyber Defence

In today’s increasingly hostile cyber landscape, conventional defences are no longer enough. Active Cyber Defence (ACD) uses real-time intelligence, deception tactics, and active threat hunting to detect and disrupt attackers before they reach your data or disrupt operations. While traditional security measures like firewalls, malware filters, and user protocols are essential, they fall short against evolving threats.

Anyone experienced in defence knows that waiting behind walls is a losing strategy. To protect your organisation, you need visibility beyond the perimeter—anticipating threats before they strike.

We specialise in guiding organisations through the transition to Active Cyber Defence. Our experts will assess your current cyber posture and craft a pathway that shifts the balance of power back in your favour.

Ready to Take Control?

Contact us today for a tailored assessment. Discover how Active Cyber Defence can transform your security approach and safeguard your operations.

Consultants

Andrew Cox
Andrew is President of Active Cyber Defence Alliance Inc and Principal Consultant at Avantgard. He guides organisations in transitioning from static to active cyber defence.

Phillip Moore
Phil, Avantgard’s technical lead, has defined cybersecurity standards for enterprise and government since the internet’s inception.

Insights and Commentary

We need to confront this genuinely terrifying scenario. In the novel Ghost Fleet, a hidden kill switch in cheap, generic Chinese processors silently sits inside U.S. military systems—until one day, thousands of chips fail at once, paralyzing the entire war-fighting machine when China attacks the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii. Now imagine the same thing happening to our critical infrastructure: power, water, transport, hospitals. This is not imaginary; it's scarily plausible.

I’d like your thoughts: how could active cyber defence be used to detect, disrupt, or deter this kind of “sleeping dragon” attack on our hardware and supply chains?

Duncan Unwin Ben Whitham John Powell GAICD MAISA

ACDA Response to Consultation on Horizon 2 of the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy

Thanks Home Affairs for preparing a consultation paper that asked hard questions. If adopted, the ACDA proposals will drive a material uplift in Australia's cyber resilience. Here's a highlight:

Our research highlights legal ambiguities and questionable legal definitions which obstruct active cyber defence. Experienced practitioners know that tools such as honeypots and trackers provide a decisive advantage to defenders.

Recommendations

The Australian Government should consider amending the Criminal Code (Cth) to provide a defence to computer-based offences for private sector actors who, acting appropriately and in good faith, inadvertently commit a computer-related criminal offence in the protection of their lawful rights or property.
The Australian Government should consider amending the Criminal Code (Cth) or the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to explicitly include computer data, information or assets as ‘property’, thereby allowing the doctrine of self-defence to apply to potential criminal offences that might arise in the conduct of ACD.

This is a great opportunity to have the long-delayed open debate on the appropriate lawful guidelines for civilian cyber defence in Australia. What do you think about it?