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The Australian Signals Directorate is both a “poacher and a game-keeper” in terms of security, as it is set to receive 500 new expert personnel says the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Michael Shoebridge.

The federal government on Tuesday announced it will spend $1.53 billion in the short-term and $15 billion in a ten year period to boost Australia’s cyber security capabilities.

Part of the package will see 500 specialists join the ASD – Australia’s cyber spy agency.

The funding boost was triggered after it was revealed earlier this month Australia was the target of sustained attacks from a foreign actor.

Mr Shoebridge said the Signals Directorate protects Australia’s digital systems through the Australian Cyber Security Centre, which encompasses its role as the “gamekeeper”.

“In doing its protective stuff, it understands deeply how these cyber and digital technologies operate,” he told Sky News host Peta Credlin.

“That same knowledge lets you be the poacher”.

Mr Shoebridge said this capability of the ASD means attaining the secrets of other foreign actors or “damaging or degrading an adversary’s electronic systems” during military operations.

Image: Getty