CYBER SECURITY+AGRICULTURE
+ TOP EMPLOYERS + FIGHTING CRIME + MEDIA & COMMS
: t o p s t f o s r Cybe k r o f o t m r a f m o fr ers es a new battle between hack The peaceful countryside hid ht? als. Do you want to join the fig and cyber security profession
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needs to be fed ur increasing population net even further. without damaging the pla one thing: leaning For farmers, this means own as ‘smart ag’ to on digital tech, a trend kn re efficient. help make their farms mo sensors, Big Data, Smart ag uses connected ificial intelligence (AI) cloud computing and art more food without to allow farms to produce . From the fields to the stinting on sustainability alysing data to plan, barnyard, farmers are an ent and take action make systems more effici ts. against unexpected even
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cyber+agric ulture stu dy
Bachelor of Sc ience (Cyber Se curity), Edith Co Bachelor of Ag wan University riculture and Te chnology, Melb ourne Polytechn Bachelor of En gineering (Cyb ic Victoria Univers ersecurity Engineering), ity of Wellingto n
cyber+agric ulture job Information se s curity specialis t: $60K–$148K chnician: $55K (Average salary) Penetration te ster: $56K–$12 5K* *Source: salaries according to pa yscale.com
Agricultural te
Exposed environments wever, hackers see , ho As more tech is adopted
ack. Cyber criminals more opportunities to att farms and their are increasingly targeting For example, in 2020, suppliers and customers. nd ’s wool selling Australia and New Zeala eight days by hackers system was crippled for n ransom. demanding AU$8 millio
Criminals like these – hir ed by competitors, criminal syndicates or ho stile foreign governments – represen t a serious threat to our food supply and security . But this also means more career opportunities for people who want to stop hackers in their tracks.
SHUTTERSTOCK
Secure the land
a cyber security expert,” says Damien Manuel, director of Cyber Security, Research and Innovation Centre at Deakin University.
A job in agriculture secur ity could include being a cyber security speciali st for a large agricultural biz – designing, deployin g and managing the business’ information ne tworks. Or maybe a penetration (pen) tester, where you’d be responsible for things lik e hacking the system yourself to see where vu lnerabilities lie. Similar roles are availab le in the companies and organisations develop ing and producing ag tech. Fun job description s would be things like making meat processing robots unhackable. Not all of the roles are tec hnical though. “You don’t need to be a sof tware developer to be
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Teaching tech
“If you have a passion for people you could go into the education side to improve cyber security awareness and make people safer online,” Damien says. It’s a tad more complex than just thinking cows and computers, but like anything tech-related, the ag industry needs protecting and the opportunities are paddock-sized! – Ben Skuse
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