🎙️ Future Secured Episode 34: The Fifth Domain is Cyber Warfare

Future Secured - Shaping a Future-Proof Digital Society

In this hard hitting episode of Future Secured, Jason Murrell and Tom Finnigan sit down with Matt Wilcox, Founder and CEO of FIFTH DOMAIN, to unpack what it really takes to train and equip the cyber warriors of today.
With a unique background, Matt brings a rare perspective to cyber training, focusing on human performance, immersive learning, and the adversarial mindset needed to win in the fifth domain: cyber warfare.
This is more than a conversation about SOCs and startups. It’s a deep dive into how Australia must rethink capability, build sovereign resilience, and move beyond tick box security into real, live-fire readiness.
From government to legal, defence to finance, if your organisation holds sensitive data or critical infrastructure, this is essential listening.
🧠 Key Takeaways:
🎥 Matt’s unconventional journey from creative industries to cyber security
🧠 Cyber is a human problem before it’s a tech problem
🎯 Understanding your adversary is the key to effective defence
🛡️ Cyber warfare is real and most organisations are not prepared
👩‍💻 Hidden talent exists inside every company, if you know how to find it
🧪 Capture-the-Flag and experiential learning outperform traditional training
💥 Failures in business and ops offer the best growth opportunities
💼 Authenticity attracts the right team, camouflage leads to culture failure
🔐 Legal firms are highly vulnerable due to legacy behaviours and secrecy
🇦🇺 Australia’s startup ecosystem lacks the support to turn innovation into impact
🛰️ Sovereign capability isn’t optional, it's a national security imperative
⚠️ The next major cyber attack could be devastating and it’s not “if”, but “when”
🗣️ Sound Bites
"Cyber exists because there is an adversary."
"You don’t need 100 people—you need 5 good ones with the right mindset."
"Authenticity attracts talent. Camouflage repels it."
"You can’t outsource risk."
"It’s not business as usual anymore."
"Cyber warfare is a wake-up call to society."
"We need to back our own businesses or we’ll keep losing them overseas."
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 — Introduction to Cyber Warfare Training
09:12 — Human Capability vs. Tech Dependency
16:30 — Cyber Warfare: Thinking Like Your Adversary
20:54 — Finding Hidden Talent Through Real-World Testing
24:39 — The Startup Reality: Lessons from the Frontline
29:39 — Hiring for Mission, Not Just Skill
31:15 — Building Functional SOCs Across Diverse Industries
36:00 — The Importance of Certainty and Clarity in Operations
40:07 — Rising Geopolitical Threats and What They Mean for Australia
44:05 — Where Australia’s Cyber Ecosystem Must Step Up
48:00 — Final Thoughts: Innovation, Sovereignty, and the Call to Action
🔗 Resources
🌐 FIFTH DOMAIN Website - www.fifthdomain.pro