Excite Cyber: Australian AI Cyber Security for Business
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Excite Cyber: Australian AI Cyber Security for Business

BySmallbizai.au

What Is Excite Cyber?

Excite Cyber is a North Sydney-based managed security services provider and a wholly owned subsidiary of ASX-listed Excite Technology Services (ASX: EXT). The company came together from the merger of three IT businesses, Brace168, Excite IT and VITCS, and has been operating under the Excite Cyber brand since Excite Technology Services renamed itself from Cipherpoint Limited in September 2023. It was originally incorporated in 2006 and listed on the ASX in November 2014.

The business sits in a crowded market but has carved out a specific niche: end-to-end security and technology services for organisations that operate in high-compliance sectors, where a breach isn’t just costly, it can end the organisation. Banking, aged care, healthcare, government agencies, renewable energy, and critical infrastructure make up the bulk of its client base.

CEO Bryan Saba has been in the IT services industry for more than two decades. His pitch for the company has always been that too many service providers treat security as a transaction. Excite Cyber positions itself as a strategic partner rather than a vendor, consultative in approach, embedded in client operations, and running a 24/7 Security Operations Centre (SOC) for continuous threat monitoring.

What Excite Cyber Actually Does

The service catalogue is broad. On the managed services side, the company runs Managed Detection and Response (MDR), Managed Extended Detection and Response (MXDR), and Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (MEDR). These sit on top of an SOC that uses machine learning-based anomaly detection and threat feed integration to monitor client environments around the clock.

The consulting arm covers the frameworks Australian businesses are increasingly required to meet: ISO 27001 certification support, NIST Cybersecurity Framework v2.0 implementation, and ASD Essential Eight assessments. For organisations that need executive-level security leadership without the cost of a full-time hire, Excite offers CISO-as-a-Service (CISOaaS), an outsourced security leadership model that has picked up traction in the mid-market.

Penetration testing, phishing assessments, vulnerability management, and static code analysis round out the professional services side. The company also runs a digital forensics division, which it significantly expanded in October 2024 through the acquisition of CBIT Digital Forensics Services. CBIT’s CEO Zoran Iliev continues to run that division within the Excite group.

The digital forensics team follows a four-phase process, freezing digital assets, extracting data, maintaining chain of custody, and appearing as expert witnesses. This is government-grade capability, and it shows in the client roster: Excite’s forensics team works with law enforcement agencies including a major federal law enforcement partner, assisting on cases involving terrorism, child exploitation, and serious crime. Much of this work is done pro bono.

The AI angle is newer. Excite has been building out what it describes as AI cyber security readiness, governance, and implementation services. The idea is that as organisations adopt AI tools, often without proper IT oversight, the data security risks multiply. The company published a whitepaper in May 2026 specifically on using Microsoft Purview for Data Loss Prevention as a way to make AI adoption safer. Its identified AI services pipeline had surpassed $200,000 as of August 2026, which is modest but signals a real product rather than a marketing claim.

Why This Matters for Australian Businesses

The regulatory environment in Australia has tightened considerably. The Privacy Act amendments, mandatory cyber security incident reporting for critical infrastructure operators, and sector-specific rules in healthcare and financial services all create compliance requirements that mid-sized organisations are struggling to meet without dedicated security expertise.

Aged care is a specific pressure point. Residential care operators sit at the intersection of three compliance regimes: the Privacy Act, the Aged Care Act, and increasingly specific cybersecurity guidance from the Department of Health. A national retirement living provider is one of Excite Cyber’s documented case studies, the company runs integrated IT and MDR services across corporate headquarters, care centres, and over 80 retirement villages for that client, maintaining 24/7/365 service continuity.

Healthcare data is equally sensitive. The combination of personal health records and financial information makes healthcare providers prime ransomware targets. In Q1 2026, Excite’s threat intelligence report documented Storm-1175, a Medusa ransomware affiliate, moving from initial breach to full ransomware deployment in as little as 24 hours against Australian businesses. That’s the threat environment these clients are operating in.

The financial services sector adds another layer: APRA’s CPS 234 standard sets mandatory information security requirements for banks, insurers and superannuation funds. Excite’s FSI and aged care case study covers disaster recovery planning and playbook creation for organisations across both sectors, the kind of cross-sector work that becomes possible when you’ve built deep expertise in the compliance frameworks of each.

For smaller businesses in regulated sectors, a regional bank, a private hospital group, an engineering firm working on critical infrastructure, the economics of a full internal security team don’t work. An MDR subscription plus periodic assessments and a CISOaaS arrangement starts to look viable by comparison.

Services and Pricing

Excite Cyber doesn’t publish standard pricing, which is typical for enterprise managed security providers. Engagements are customised based on scope, industry, and the specific frameworks involved. The company offers an initial consultation through its website (1300 147 369) to scope requirements.

Service entry points likely include:

  • Managed Detection and Response, ongoing SOC monitoring, threat detection and response. Suitable for organisations wanting 24/7 coverage without internal headcount.
  • ASD Essential Eight Assessment, point-in-time assessment against Australia’s baseline cybersecurity framework, with remediation roadmap. Good entry point for SMEs getting serious about compliance.
  • CISOaaS, fractional CISO engagement for organisations that need security strategy and governance leadership without a full-time hire.
  • ISO 27001 Support, end-to-end support for organisations pursuing certification, including gap analysis, implementation support, and audit readiness.
  • Penetration Testing, both inside-out (internal network) and outside-in (external facing assets) assessments.

The company also resells technology products from vendors including Cellebrite and Nuix, which appear prominently in its government and law enforcement work.

Who Should Look at Excite Cyber

The profile that fits Excite Cyber’s strengths is specific. You’re a mid-market organisation in a regulated Australian sector, healthcare, financial services, aged care, government, critical infrastructure, and you either can’t afford internal security headcount or you want to expand an existing small team with specialist capabilities and 24/7 monitoring.

If you’re in aged care or retirement living and you need someone who already knows the compliance field and has proven it works for a national operator, Excite has documented case studies in exactly that space. Same for FSI clients that need disaster recovery planning aligned to financial sector standards.

If you’re in government or law enforcement and need digital forensics capability, real court-ready forensics, not just incident response, the CBIT acquisition gives Excite an accredited forensics division with an existing AFP partnership.

The AI readiness services are worth watching if you’re rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot or similar tools and you’re worried about where your data is going. The Purview/DLP approach is practical and Microsoft-native, which suits organisations already in the M365 network.

Excite Cyber is probably not the right fit if you’re a startup or a micro business. The complexity and cost of enterprise managed security services doesn’t match the risk profile of a three-person shop. For that market, simpler SaaS security tools are more appropriate.

Verdict

Excite Cyber is a legitimate, ASX-listed managed security provider with genuine government credentials and documented client outcomes in sectors where security failures carry real consequences. The AFP digital forensics partnership and the national aged care client case study are not marketing copy, they’re verifiable, specific, and meaningful signals of capability.

The company is still working toward profitability. It reported $3.1 million in sales closed during June and July 2026 and noted it had booked over half of anticipated revenue for the remainder of its financial year. The cost reduction program it executed in 2025, roughly $5.5 million in operational savings, has improved its financial position, but it remains a small-cap with the risks that come with that.

The AI cyber readiness offering is early-stage. A $200,000 identified pipeline is a start, not a product. But the underlying logic, that AI adoption creates data governance risks that need managing before something goes wrong, is sound, and Excite has built the compliance and governance frameworks needed to deliver on it.

For Australian businesses in high-compliance sectors that need a security partner with government-grade capability and local sector knowledge, Excite Cyber deserves a closer look.

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