The Quad is a diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan and the United States. Quad partners are committed to working together on challenges to the Indo-Pacific. This is to support an open, stable and prosperous region that is inclusive and resilient. The inaugural virtual Quad Leaders’ Summit was held on 12 March 2021.
Read more about the Quad on the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.
Quad Senior Cyber Group
The Department of Home Affairs supports the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as Australia’s lead for the Quad Senior Cyber Group (QSCG). The QSCG was created following the Quad Leaders’ Summit held at the White House on 24 September 2021. Its launch was outlined in the
2021 Quad Leaders’ Summit Fact Sheet. It is an agreed commitment by Quad leaders to build on longstanding collaboration on cyber security matters.
The QSCG commits to maintaining an Indo-Pacific that is:
- inclusive
- resilient
- equipped to detect and deter cyber attacks.
The group aims to achieve these objectives by focusing on five overarching themes:
- Protection of national critical infrastructure underpinning our national economies.
- Information sharing, workforce and awareness.
- Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT) cyber security.
- Tackling the criminal threat and ransomware scourge.
- Indo-Pacific cyber security capacity building.
The QSCG facilitates regular meetings of expert leaders from Quad partners.
The third in-person meeting of the QSCG Principals took place in Tokyo on 5–6 December 2023. The group discussed work underway to improve the security of critical infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific. They also discussed the need to harness opportunities presented by critical and emerging technologies. This included artificial intelligence and machine learning. Read the
Joint Press Release of the Quad Senior Cyber Group.
Quad partners met on 23–24 March 2022 in Sydney. They agreed on Joint Principles to guide cyber security cooperation between partners. This aims to improve cyber security across the Indo-Pacific region. Read the
Quad Cybersecurity Partnership: Joint Principles.
A number of initiatives from the QSCG are announced at the Quad Leaders’ Summits. Read the outcomes from the
2023 Quad Leaders’ Summit.
Quad Cyber Challenge
For the second Quad Cyber Challenge, the Australian Government invited students across the country to take part. We especially encouraged female students to explore the exciting career opportunities in cyber security.
Australia’s Quad Cyber Challenge, led by the Quad Senior Cyber Group, ran from 21–25 October 2024. The Challenge coincided with National Cyber Security Awareness Month and aligned with its theme that cyber security is everyone’s business.
We want female students to consider a future in cyber security—a field that offers exciting work, protects people and businesses and helps strengthen Australia’s national security.
The 2024 Quad Cyber Challenge had three simple steps:
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Try a puzzle: Solve one or more of the Australian Signals Directorate’s puzzles and challenges on their
Puzzles and Challenges page.
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Explore a cyber security career: Sign up for the Australian Signals Directorate’s CyberEXP to experience what a day in the life of a cyber specialist looks like on their
CyberEXP page.
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Access resources: Check out the high school materials on the
Australian Women in Security Network website.
By completing the three tasks, you can start your learning journey and discover what a career in cyber security has to offer.
There are easy actions you can take today to protect your devices and accounts from cyber threats. You can learn more on our
Act now Stay secure page.
You can also explore why cyber security matters on our
Cyber Security Awareness Month page.
Take on the Quad Cyber Challenge and make a career in cyber security your future!
Secure Software
The QSCG is working together to collectively improve software security andy have developed the
Quad Cybersecurity Partnership: Joint Principles for Secure Software. These principles establish minimum cyber security guidelines for government development, procurement, and use of software.
The Department of Home Affairs will work collaboratively with stakeholders in the Australian Government, private industry, and the QSCG to support Australia’s implementation of the principles.
