"We need to accept that the threats are very real, but we also need people who can make informed trade-offs decisions: yes, that is a risk but look at the benefits, so yes I will take that risk."

The issue of security threats to Australia's defence has been a focus for the Federal Government of late with the Gillard Government unveiling a earlier this month aimed at enticing ICT university students into the information security industry.

The Cyber Defence University Challenge is designed to test the problem-solving skills of teams of Australian undergraduates in a virtual computer network scenario. It will run for 24 hours from the 3 to 4 April 2012.

In January Australia was ranked third behind the UK and US and ahead of 17 other G-20 nations for its and to deploy the digital infrastructure needed for a productive and secure economy.