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Cybersecurity Priorities for Australian Boards | ASD Guidance (2025–26)
First Published:
October 31, 2025
Content Written For:
Small & Medium Businesses
Large Organisations & Infrastructure
Government
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Summary
Australia’s cyber threat environment has entered a new phase. The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) have released Cyber Security Priorities for Boards in 2025–26, urging directors to take direct oversight of security posture, not delegate it.
Key Takeaways
- Australia’s cybersecurity priorities for Australian boards require directors to take direct oversight of their security posture.
- ASD warns that cyber risk is now business risk, and boards must focus on secure technology choices and incident response readiness.
- The six high-impact focus areas include secure-by-design architectures and critical asset defence, with support from CyberPulse.
- Directors must ask critical questions related to cybersecurity to ensure effective governance and risk management.
- Preparation for quantum computing and continuity in incident response planning are vital for future resilience.
This blog translates ASD’s priorities into board-level action steps — showing where leading cybersecurity companies in Australia, including CyberPulse, can support you through incident response, Essential Eight uplift, and cloud security advisory.
1. The New Cyber Reality: Why Boards Must Lead
ASD warns that Australian organisations face a heightened threat environment driven by geopolitical instability across the Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and the Middle East.
Cyber espionage alone cost the nation $12.5 billion in FY23–24, with attacks increasing in both scale and sophistication.
Boards can no longer treat cybersecurity as a compliance task. ASD’s message is clear: cyber risk is business risk. Board oversight must now cover:
- Secure-by-design and secure-by-default technology choices
- Prioritisation of “crown jewel” assets
- Effective third-party risk management
- Continuous incident response readiness
For directors, this is the shift from delegation to assurance — knowing not just that controls exist, but that they perform effectively.
2. 2025–26 Priorities: What ASD Expects Boards to Focus On
The ASD-AICD guidance lists six high-impact focus areas for directors. CyberPulse aligns each to practical implementation pathways:
| ASD Priority | Why It Matters | CyberPulse Implementation Support |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Secure-by-design and secure-by-default architectures | Prevent vulnerabilities from entering the environment at all. | Cloud Security Advisory – ASD-aligned design reviews and IRAP-ready control mapping. |
| 2. Defence of critical assets (“assume compromise”) | Focus resources on systems essential to operations and reputation. | Essential Eight Maturity Uplift – maps maturity targets for your “crown jewels”. |
| 3. Event logging and threat detection | Without visibility, detection is impossible. ASD urges enterprise-wide event logging. | Managed Detection and Response – continuous monitoring and ASD-aligned detection rules. |
| 4. Legacy IT risk management | Outdated systems magnify breach impact; ASD advises replacement or isolation. | Cyber Risk Assessments – identify unsupported assets and compensating controls. |
| 5. Cyber supply-chain risk oversight | Boards must ensure suppliers meet ASD standards for incident reporting and access control. | Third-Party Risk & Compliance – due diligence aligned with ASD ISM. |
| 6. Post-quantum cryptography transition | Prepare for the future where quantum computing breaks current encryption. | Security Strategy & Architecture – roadmap for cryptography and resilience readiness. |
3. Governance and Questions Every Board Should Ask
ASD encourages boards to use its governance framework as a self-assessment tool, not just a checklist.
Questions directors should pose to management include:
- Do we operate with an assume-compromise mindset?
- Are our critical assets identified and protected first?
- How do we verify that logging and threat detection are effective?
- Is legacy IT being decommissioned or securely isolated?
- Are suppliers’ controls verified — not just promised?
- Have we started planning for post-quantum transition?
These questions, drawn directly from ASD’s publication, reflect the shift from “Are we secure?” to “How do we know we’re secure?”
4. Event Logging and Threat Detection: From Board to Console
ASD urges boards to confirm their organisations have enterprise-wide event logging and clear accountability for detection.
That means ensuring:
- Defined retention, review and alert policies
- Logs from every network and cloud system
- Time-synchronised, tamper-resistant storage
- Alerts integrated into incident response workflows
If your board cannot see real-time reporting of security incidents, it’s blind to operational risk.
💡 CyberPulse Insight: Our Managed Detection and Response service implements ASD event logging guidance end-to-end from log collection and normalisation to threat correlation and escalation paths giving boards measurable assurance.
5. Managing Legacy IT: The Hidden Cost of Delay
ASD warns that weak controls around legacy IT increase both the likelihood and impact of breaches.
Boards should demand:
- A current legacy IT inventory
- Documented risk owners for each system
- Defined compensating measures when patching is impossible
CyberPulse’s Cyber Risk Assessment identifies unsupported systems and creates actionable decommissioning roadmaps to comply with ASD’s legacy IT management advice.
6. Cyber Supply Chain: A Director’s Blind Spot
According to ASD, supply chain oversight is one of the most under-managed board risks.
Directors should ensure procurement and legal teams embed ASD-aligned clauses requiring:
- Supplier breach notification
- ASD ISM compliance
- Evidence of incident response capability
- Segmented access controls for suppliers
CyberPulse helps boards meet these obligations through Vendor Risk Management Services, including supplier due-diligence templates and risk dashboards.
7. Preparing for the Quantum Era
ASD cautions that cryptographically relevant quantum computers will eventually break today’s encryption. Boards must ask:
- Have we identified our cryptographic dependencies?
- Are vendors preparing for post-quantum standards?
- Do we have a transition roadmap?
8. Incident Response Readiness: The Unifying Control
Every element of ASD’s 2025–26 priorities converges on one outcome — the ability to respond effectively when incidents occur.
Boards must confirm that their organisation has:
- A tested Cyber Incident Response Plan (CIRP)
- Clear escalation from detection to executive decision-making
- Incident response retainers with a trusted partner
CyberPulse’s Incident Response Planning & Retainers align directly with ASD’s Incident Response Guidance for Executives and Practitioners, ensuring your team can respond, contain and recover within hours, not days.
9. The CyberPulse Board Readiness Framework
| ASD Pillar | Board Oversight Action | CyberPulse Service Alignment |
|---|---|---|
| Governance & Culture | Ensure cyber risk is integrated into enterprise risk management. | Cyber Governance Advisory |
| Resilience & Detection | Validate event logging, threat detection and alert escalation. | Managed Detection and Response |
| Response & Recovery | Require tested IR plans and retainers. | Incident Response |
| Supply Chain & Cloud | Audit vendor compliance and shared responsibility models. | Cloud Security Advisory |
| Innovation & Future Risk | Plan for quantum and AI risk adaptation. | Security Strategy & Architecture |
About CyberPulse
CyberPulse is a security-first compliance partner helping organisations reduce cyber risk, build resilience and achieve certification with confidence. Founded by former CISOs and security leaders, we align technical depth with real-world context to deliver measurable outcomes across advisory, managed services, compliance and threat defence.
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