NAB strikes infosec alliance with La Trobe Uni

NAB has struck up a strategic alliance with La Trobe University that could result in jointly-created infosec solutions and contributions to coursework.

Under the strategic alliance, NAB will work with La Trobe to develop technical and commercial solutions in areas of cyber intelligence gathering, protection, digital forensics, reverse engineering, and malware detection and response.

NAB’s existing in-house cyber team will have the opportunity to undertake additional short courses provided by the uni, as well as higher-level degrees.

Scholarships and internships will also be offered to infosec-savvy students at the university.

Additionally, NAB will "contribute to La Trobe’s cybersecurity curriculum" and will "propose operational, technical, legal and business research questions for La Trobe Masters by coursework students (to undertake as capstone projects within their degree programs)", the bank and university said in a statement.

Capstone projects are usually done in the final year of study, involve industry partners, and provide students "with opportunities to demonstrate their capacity to integrate the knowledge and skills acquired throughout their degree and apply them to a real-world problem", according to La Trobe.

NAB’s CISO and general manager of cyber security, Nicholas McKenzie, will also join the La Trobe Cyber Security Executive Advisory Board.

Ahead of an official launch of the alliance at the Victorian Parliament today, La Trobe vice-chancellor Professor John Dewar said it was critical that universities and industry worked together to address the challenges posed by cybersecurity threats.

"We are already researching the latest malware detection and sensing techniques, and the opportunity to expand this research to areas such as data detection and forensics analysis will benefit all Australians," Dewar said.

NAB’s chief enterprise security officer, David Fairman, said the partnership would result in "deeper insights [and an ability to] identify threats more effectively and help shape the future curriculum for the next generation" of practitioners.