Australia’s Blueprint for Modern Cyber Defense

The Australian Signals Directorate has published the 2025 “Foundations for Modern Defensible Architecture”, outlining 10 core principles that redefine cybersecurity defense across government and private sectors. The report emphasizes ZeroTrustArchitecture as the central paradigm for securing digital environments against evolving threats.

Highlights from the Framework:

✅ Zero Trust Principles at the Core

- Built on the pillars of “Never trust, always verify”, “Assume breach”, and “Verify explicitly”, the model aligns with NIST 800-207 and CISA’s Zero Trust Maturity - Model v2.0. Every user, device, and request must be explicitly authenticated and continuously monitored.

✅ 10 Pillars of Defensible Architecture:

- Centrally Managed Enterprise Identities

- High Assurance Authentication (e.g., phishing-resistant MFA, passkeys)

- Contextual Authorisation (based on time, location, device posture, sensitivity of data)

- Reliable Asset Inventory

- Secure Endpoints (real-time integrity validation and configuration management)

- Reduced Attack Surface (micro segmentation, service minimization, patching)

- Resilient Networks (segmentation, secure protocols, encrypted traffic)

- Secure-by-Design Software (SBOM, threat modeling, DevSecOps)

- Comprehensive Governance & Assurance

- Continuous & Actionable Monitoring (automated response, telemetry-based detection).

As a certified Cloud Security Alliance CCZT, I can confidently say ZeroTrust is the future of cybersecurity. I fully support Australia’s national effort in formalizing ZTA within its critical infrastructure and enterprise IT.

In 2021, President Biden’s Executive Order made Zero Trust a federal mandate in the U.S.—and I strongly believe the EU should follow suit, embedding ZTA requirements into NIS2, DORA, and future cybersecurity frameworks.

Attackers are getting smarter, better resourced, and more persistent. Cybercriminal groups operate like enterprises, and nation-state actors have capabilities most organizations are unprepared for. ZTA provides the architectural defense indepth to withstand, detect, and contain those threats.

Link to the framework

Author: Sebastian Burgemejster