Hit Essential Eight, guard IP, and keep your Defence contracts - practical tactics for Aussie defence SMEs.Small and mid-sized firms sit at the sharp end of Australia’s defence supply chain. They build smart kit, hold sensitive data and keep prime contractors moving - yet many still treat security as a box-ticking chore. In this episode of Intelligence Optimised, host Todd Crowley sits down with veteran security strategist Aaron Pollard to spell out what “good” now looks like. Key talking points✔️Why cyber security outranks physical guards and gates in 2025.✔️The jump from Top 4 to Essential Eight maturity level 2 and what it costs.✔️Using Defence Industry Development Strategy grants to fund your uplift.✔️Mapping and marking intellectual property so it doesn’t walk out the door.✔️Leveraging ASIO outreach and insider-threat training to turn staff into sensors.✔️Scoping controls only to defence-facing networks to save cash.✔️How workforce shortages and ASD’s Red Spice program are pushing salaries north.📍Why it mattersDefence expects the same security baseline from a five-person CNC shop as it does from the primes - fail to meet it and your purchase orders disappear. Aaron breaks down the hidden levers SMEs can pull: narrow the system boundary, pick the right managed service provider, and use grant money only after a Defence-issued Maturity Action Plan. The result: compliance you can actually afford, and information assurance your customers will bank on.Whether you manage a niche software team in Adelaide or a composites plant in Brisbane, this conversation hands you the playbook to cut risk, lift resilience and keep delivering capability across the Indo-Pacific.Find deeper briefs and step-by-step guides inside Vaxa Bureau.

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