What Shearwater does

Shearwater Solutions is an Australian cybersecurity services company founded in 2003 and headquartered in Chatswood, with 101-250 employees. The company delivers end-to-end cyber security services including security education, security operations management, compliance advisory, application security testing, managed security services, and phishing awareness training, the latter via its proprietary Phriendly Phishing solution. It historically served Australian State and Federal Government agencies, banking and finance institutions, telecommunications providers, utilities, retail, technology firms, and healthcare organizations, with primary focus on the government, banking and finance, and telecommunications verticals. Since October 2019, Shearwater has operated as a foundational subsidiary of CyberCX, Australia's largest sovereign cyber security services provider, and since February 27, 2026, has been part of Accenture following Accenture's acquisition of CyberCX.

The company's business model combines professional services (security testing, consulting, and engineering), managed security services delivered on a recurring basis, and subscription-based security training products. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales targeting large organizations through direct engagement and expert consultation, supported by CyberCX's broader sales organization. Shearwater also operates through wholly owned subsidiary Brookcourt Solutions, a London-based IT services operation that designs, supplies, and implements resilient hardware platforms alongside ongoing service engineering and support, primarily for UK telecommunications operators. Following the Accenture acquisition, Shearwater retains its brand identity and customer relationships while gaining access to a global consulting platform and delivery network.

Within the CyberCX platform, Shearwater benefits from a national Australian footprint covering Victoria, ACT, NSW, and Queensland, plus 9 advanced security operations centres globally. The competitive positioning rests on the combined CyberCX talent base of more than 1,400 cybersecurity and cloud professionals, the region's largest incident response team, and ethical hackers conducting over 3,000 penetration tests per year. Shearwater's primary competitive advantage is its deep practitioner talent and entrenched enterprise relationships in regulated verticals (government, finance, telecom), where switching costs are high and security clearances and compliance expertise are barriers to entry.

Name

Shearwater

Legal name

Shearwater Solutions

Website

https://shearwater.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Shearwater Solutions is an Australian cybersecurity services company founded in 2003, now operating as a subsidiary of Accenture via CyberCX. It delivers end-to-end security services including managed SOC, compliance, application security, and the proprietary Phriendly Phishing training platform to enterprise and government clients in finance, telecom, and government verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chatswood

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Services and Engineering: Revenue generated from delivering hardware platforms, engineering services, and ongoing support contracts. Brookcourt Solutions designs, supplies, and implements resilient hardware platforms alongside service engineering and support.
2. Managed Security Services: Ongoing cybersecurity services including managed SOC, security testing, and assurance delivered as recurring services to enterprise and government clients.
3. Security Training and Education: Organization-wide cyber security education and training services, including phishing awareness training through Phriendly Phishing solution.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Shearwater Solutions is an Australian cybersecurity services company delivering security education, security operations management, compliance advisory, and application security services to enterprise and government organisations. The company also developed Phriendly Phishing, a phishing awareness training solution, and operates through subsidiary Brookcourt Solutions to provide hardware platform engineering and IT services to UK telecommunications operators.

Product overview

Shearwater is a cybersecurity services company (now part of CyberCX) offering a portfolio of security services including penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, security operations centre (SOC), governance risk and compliance, identity and access management, network and infrastructure solutions, cloud security, digital forensics and incident response, cyber intelligence, and education and training. The company also developed Phriendly Phishing, a phishing awareness training solution. Shearwater's services are delivered through CyberCX's platform providing end-to-end cybersecurity capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Phriendly Phishing: A unique phishing awareness training solution developed by Shearwater.

Products and services

• Penetration Testing Services Offensive security testing service that identifies exploitable vulnerabilities in digital assets, delivered by ethical hackers for enterprise and government organisations.
• Security Operations Centre (SOC) Managed security operations service providing continuous monitoring, detection and response across customer environments, delivered from advanced security operations centres.
• Governance, Risk and Compliance Services Advisory and certification services covering ISO 27001, Essential Eight, cyber risk assessments, and regulatory compliance for organisations required to meet security standards.
• Digital Forensics and Incident Response Proactive threat hunting and cyber breach response service for organisations requiring incident handling, forensics and recovery support.
• Education and Training Organisation-wide cyber security education and training service tailored to customer needs, including phishing awareness training.
• Phriendly Phishing
• Managed Security Services Ongoing cyber security expertise delivered as a managed service, including managed SOC, security testing and assurance for enterprise and government clients.
• Network and Infrastructure Solutions Design, integration and deployment of network and infrastructure security solutions for enterprise customers.
• Cloud Security and Solutions Design, build and management of secure cloud and data solutions for organisations requiring cloud and application security.
• Identity and Access Management Solutions for managing digital identities and access controls across enterprise environments.
• Brookcourt Solutions Hardware Platform and Engineering Services

Named customers1 record

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CyberCXcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2019In October 2019, Shearwater became a foundational member of CyberCX, the nation's largest sovereign cyber security services provider. This significant move enabled Shearwater's customers to continue receiving dedicated services while gaining access to end-to-end CyberCX cyber security capability.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mandiant (Google Cloud): Global incident response, threat intelligence and security consulting firm - directly comparable to Shearwater's DFIR, penetration testing and cyber intelligence offerings, and an increasingly common competitor for high-end Australian cyber engagements.
• eSentire: Pure-play MDR provider with global SOCs and 24/7 incident response, directly comparable to the managed security services arm of Shearwater/CyberCX in delivery model and customer use case.
• Trustwave: Global MDR/MSSP offering managed detection, penetration testing, DFIR and security consulting, comparable in service mix to Shearwater, particularly the managed SOC and offensive security capabilities that Shearwater provides through CyberCX.
• Sekuro: Australian-headquartered cyber security consultancy delivering managed security, GRC, offensive security and cloud security to enterprise and government - a closely aligned direct competitor in the same verticals and roughly similar scale.
• Tesserent (Thales Cyber Solutions ANZ): Tesserent was Australia's largest pure-play listed cyber security services firm before its 2023 acquisition by Thales, offering managed SOC, penetration testing and advisory directly comparable to Shearwater's service portfolio across Australian enterprise and government.

Broad incumbents

• Telstra Security Services: Telstra's managed security, SOC and consulting arm serving Australian enterprise and government - competing with Shearwater for large managed security contracts but as part of Australia's largest telco's broader technology services portfolio.
• KPMG Australia (Cyber Security Services): Big 4 cyber practice with strong GRC, identity, and managed security offerings targeting Australian banks, telcos and government - comparable buyer set and services to Shearwater, though delivered as part of a broader advisory franchise.
• Optus Enterprise (Macquarie Cloud Services / Optus Cyber): Telstra/Optus-class Australian telecom with security and managed services bundled into broader enterprise offerings; competes for the same regulated, telco-adjacent and large-enterprise cyber engagements but as part of a wider connectivity portfolio.
• Deloitte Australia (Cyber Risk Services): Big 4 advisory practice with a large Australian cyber team covering GRC, incident response and offensive security; competes for the same premium enterprise and government engagements as Shearwater but as part of a global consulting portfolio.
• DXC Technology (Security Services): Global IT services firm with a managed security, identity and GRC practice, competing for the same Australian enterprise and government security mandates as Shearwater, though from a broader infrastructure and application services base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/shearwatersec

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Shearwater