SESSION 1: CYBER COOPERATION IN THE ASIA–PACIFIC The Asia–Pacific’s increasing importance to the economic and strategic interests of Australia and the US meant that examining the region’s cybersecurity was an obvious choice for the first in-depth session at the Australia–US Cyber Security Dialogue. The digital potential of the entire region offers enormous development and trade opportunities that, if effectively harnessed, will benefit the economies of both countries. Connectivity rates in the Asia–Pacific are soaring, growing at 12% during 2015.2 But about half the region is still not connected to the internet, providing a huge reservoir of people yet to take advantage of the benefits of digital commerce and development. The region’s economies continue to grow, and GDP growth rates of 5.4% in 2016 are driving the increasing importance of the region to broader international economic security.3 However, this economic growth hasn’t been evenly distributed across the Asia–Pacific, and there are significant regional disparities. In some cases, the rapid proliferation of networks isn’t being matched by the necessary regulatory frameworks, governance structures or individual and corporate savviness towards cybersecurity threats. Digital tigers such as South Korea, Japan and Singapore are leading the way, but less developed states such as Laos and Bangladesh are struggling to establish cyber maturity. These disparities have created cybercrime hotspots in permissive regulatory environments, such as the Philippines, and protectionist barriers to trade in over-regulated economies, such as China. So, while regional connectivity promises prosperity, it can also complicate security and trade flows. This unevenness also reflects the geopolitical realities of the Asia–Pacific. The region’s geostrategic power struggles are being replicated in cyberspace, as major powers compete to exploit digital benefits and jostle to influence emerging countries as they come online. China is making waves in cyberspace. Its government is heavily investing in baseline ICT infrastructure across the region, condoning or overlooking cybercrime operations from within its borders, and leveraging cyberspace as a tool for information operations such as those conducted in July 2016 at Vietnamese airports in relation to the South China Sea disputes. As China pursues its strategic interests through cyberspace, so too does the US. At the ASEAN Summit in Laos during September 2016, President Obama and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter reinforced the US commitment to rebalance towards Asia and its central security role in the Asia–Pacific. The US views cyberspace as an important mechanism by which to maintain its regional influence, and President Trump has outlined plans to prioritise investment in both its defensive and offensive cyber capabilities. The US and China have demonstrated some promising moves towards compromise, such as their September 2015 agreement on state-sponsored intellectual property theft.4 However, their visions for the future of cyberspace remain at odds. With the US as its central security partner and China as its top two-way trading partner, Australia has a vested interest in stabilising the region’s digital landscape. Australia and the US’s historic bilateral relationship, shared values and mutual interest in Asia–Pacific stability make them natural partners in ensuring that the current rules-based global order is recreated online. In this complex strategic environment, Australia and the US must develop a nuanced and coordinated approach to regional cybersecurity. There’s value in taking strong collective stands to defend the future of an open, free, secure and reliable cyberspace and advocating for principles of free trade and civil liberties, such as privacy