What the 2026–2028 NSW Government Cyber Security Strategy Reveals About Identity Resilience

When the New South Wales Government published its 2026–2028 Cyber Security Strategy, it didn't just outline a plan for Australian agencies. It underscored a critical principle every organisation should pay attention to: cyber resilience starts with securing access, but it can't stop there. 

 

The NSW strategy is a roadmap built for a world where work happens everywhere, credentials are the primary attack vector, and visibility into who is accessing what has become a compliance requirement, not a nice-to-have. And while it's written for government, the lessons are universal. 

 

Let's break down what this strategy tells us about where identity security is heading, and why LastPass sits at the centre of it all. 

Trust Is Earned Through Visibility and Control 

The NSW strategy anchors on a simple idea: trust. Not a vague  trust, but the kind you earn by demonstrating you know who has access to what data, how they're logging in, and whether credentials have been compromised. 

 

Here's what that means in practice: 

• 24-hour breach reporting is now mandatory. Can your organisation identify and revoke compromised credentials that fast? 
• Asset inventories and third-party provider registers are required. Do you know which apps your team is using, and how they're authenticating? 
• Compliance cycles moved from annual to tri-annual. Audit readiness isn't a project anymore. It's a posture.  

LastPass helps you meet those expectations by centralising credential management, logging every access event, and surfacing risky behaviours (password reuse, weak credentials, shadow SaaS) in real time. When an auditor or insurer asks, "How do you manage access?" you have an answer — with evidence. 

Zero Trust Starts with Identity 

NSW explicitly endorses zero-trust architecture and secure-by-design principles. It means you can't assume someone is safe just because they're inside the network. Every login, every access event, must be verified.Zero trust sounds complex. But at its core, it's simple: verify identity before granting access, every time. 

 

That's where LastPass becomes foundational: 

• Password vault + MFA = consistent authentication across every app 
• Federated login via your IdP = seamless SSO without introducing new passwords 
• SaaS Monitoring & Protect = visibility into credential-based access outside SSO, including shadow IT and AI tools 

If you're being told you need zero trust, start with the layer that secures how people actually log in — because that's where most breaches begin. Zero trust doesn't replace your password manager. It depends on one. 

Resilience = Speed to Recovery 

In 2026, the question isn't “if” you'll face a credential-driven threat. It's “how fast you can contain it.”  

 

Consider this: 

• Average breach cost involving compromised credentials: $4.67 million (IBM, 2025) 
• Average time to identify and contain: 186 days (IBM, 2025) 

LastPass shortens that window by enabling: 

• Instant credential discovery: see every app employees are logging into, automatically 
• Risk identification: surface apps with weak passwords, password reuse, or missing MFA 
• Immediate containment: block or warn users accessing high-risk apps, right at login 
• Emergency access workflows: revoke credentials and enforce resets across your environment without waiting for manual resets 
• Dark web monitoring: get alerts before stolen credentials are used 

When NSW talks about resilience, they're talking about minimizing impact and enabling faster recovery. That's what LastPass delivers — not invincibility, but containment. 

Supply Chain = Extended Attack Surface 

NSW now mandates that agencies document all third-party providers and assess their cyber risk. Why? Because supply-chain attacks are surging, and most of them start with stolen credentials 

. 

Think about your vendors, contractors, and partners: 

• Do they have access to your systems? 
• Are they using shared logins or personal accounts? 
• Can you revoke their access immediately if needed?  

LastPass helps you secure the supply chain by: 

• Vaulting shared credentials so contractors never see the actual password 
• Enforcing MFA even for external users 
• Logging access so you know who touched what and when 
• Revoking instantly without waiting for someone to manually change passwords across several different apps 

Vendors are part of your attack surface. Secure the credentials that connect you. 

Compliance Is Now Continuous 

NSW shifted from annual to tri-annual threat assessments. That's a signal: compliance is no longer a once-a-year checkbox exercise. It's an ongoing state. 

 

And here's the thing: compliance frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, CIS Controls, NIST CSF, and Essential 8 all have one thing in common — they expect you to demonstrate continuous control over credentials and access. 

 

LastPass supports that by: 

• Automatically enforcing password policies (strength, rotation, reuse prevention) 
• Generating compliance-ready reports (who has access, how they're authenticating, password health scores) 
• Integrating with your IdP so provisioning/deprovisioning is auditable and consistent 

When an auditor asks, "How do you enforce strong passwords?" you don't point to a policy doc. You show them the dashboard. 

The Compromised Credential Register Is Coming 

NSW is launched a Compromised Credential Register as part of its new Identity Protection and Recovery Act. That means government will be actively tracking stolen credentials and using that intelligence to reduce identity misuse and fraud. 

 

You don't need to wait for your government to do the same. LastPass already offers: 

• Dark web monitoring actively scanning billions of compromised credentials 
• Real-time alerts when an employee's credentials appear in a breach 
• Automated prompts to force password resets before the credential is exploited 

What This Means for You 

The NSW strategy isn't just a government document. It's a preview of what compliance, insurers, customers, and regulators will expect from every organisation in the next 2–3 years: 

• Know who has access to what (asset inventory + credential visibility)  
• Enforce strong, unique credentials (password management + MFA)  
• Monitor for compromise (dark web monitoring + breach alerts)  
• Respond fast (instant revocation + emergency access)  
• Prove it continuously (audit logs + compliance reporting) 

LastPass delivers all of that — without requiring complex and expensive enterprise IAM platform, a six-month deployment, or a dedicated identity team. 

Closing the Gap with LastPass 

Here are three questions to ask yourself: 

1. If we had a credential breach today, could we identify and revoke all compromised access in 24 hours — including in unapproved SaaS apps? 
2. Do we know which apps our team is using — and whether they're accessing them with weak or reused passwords? 
3. Can we prove, right now, that we're monitoring for compromise and controlling access to risky apps? 

If the answer to any of those is "not really," then you have a gap. But it's fixable.  

Public-sector strategies are written in response to real threats, real breaches, and real compliance pressure. And what they prioritise — credential hygiene, access visibility, rapid response, continuous compliance — applies to every organisation. 

 

LastPass gives you the Secure Access Essentials you need to meet those expectations without the complexity, cost, or deployment time of enterprise platforms. 

• Download our Identity Resilience Playbook to see how organisations like yours are moving from passwords to secure access — fast. 
• Book a demo to see how LastPass centralises credentials, surfaces shadow SaaS, and enables 24-hour breach response. 
• Start a free trial and see the difference in days, not months.