CSO Group scores AU$16m deal with NSW Government

CSO Group has secured an important deal with a NSW Government department.

The deal is for four years, valued at AU$16 million, and is with the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ).

It focuses on the refresh and uplift of cybersecurity capabilities and technologies for the cloud, endpoint and email, leveraging the recently launched CSO Managed Security Service.

The CSO Managed Cyber Assurance Service (M-CAS) delivers an integrated, Zero Trust platform and architecture that also provides advanced insights and increased security resilience and protection.

This services leverages strategic partnerships with CrowdStrike, Netskope, Airlock Digital and Proofpoint.

According to CSO, it is also the first Security Coalition deployment that is further enhanced by its integration with the incumbent Okta solution.

CSO states the M-CAS solution, provides enterprises with a unified, proactive and continuously evolving security solution that is scalable.

CSO Group chief executive officer Michael Simkovic says, "We are very proud of the work that our team has been providing our customers and the partnership and trust that we have developed with the DCJ.

"COVID-19 has ignited a rapid shift to an evolving threat landscape for organisations through an increase in remote work, moving people and assets outside the confines of a traditional perimeter.

"Our integrated managed service and Spectra Alliance platform is the first-of-its-kind, providing our customers like DCJ with a scalable and fully integrated, zero trust solution."

Partners also commented on the announcement.

CrowdStrike regional vice president channel and alliances APJ, Geoff Swaine, says, "Working with CSO Group to deliver the most effective breach prevention technology solution to the DCJ was seamless.

"CSO Group's understanding of CrowdStrike's technology integration with the Spectra Alliance partners and ability to align this understanding to the DCJ's requirements was exceptional.

"We are excited about our continued partnership in offering our joint customers actionable threat intelligence and a stronger cyber resilient posture."

Netskope VP Asia Pacific Tony Burnside says, "It has been an absolute pleasure working with the CSO team to provide the DCJ with a secure cloud access solution.

"We are proud to have been selected from such a large group of cloud security vendors and we believe this is testament to the power of the Netskope offering.

"Having lived and worked on three continents over the past 30 years I can honestly say that the CSO team are one of the most impressive partners I have ever had the pleasure to work with."

Okta director of regional alliances Matt Paull says, "CSO Group are showing true leadership and understanding of the Security Coalitions technology and integration. It is essential we have integrated partners like these in our market, to help our customers realise the full benefits of their investments with us all."

Finally, Proofpoint area vice president ANZ Crispin Kerr says, "We are delighted to be working with CSO Group to deliver Proofpoint's integrated, people-centric approach to cybersecurity protection to the DCJ.

"Their expertise in bringing the benefits of the Security Coalition to market is second to none and we look forward to our continued partnership to bring best-of-breed cybersecurity solutions to Australian organisations, against an unprecedented level of cyber threats."