Australia Post has partnered with AI security firm Alpha Level to apply machine learning to cyber threat detection across its national network - including systems used by thousands of licensed post offices and small businesses.

The partnership will deploy AI models to help Australia Post collect, process and analyse approximately four billion data points generated each month from network traffic and security logs.

Australia Post Chief Information Security Officer Adam Cartwright said the volume and complexity of the task drove the need for machine learning capability.

"Each month, our systems generate around four billion data points - from network traffic to security logs - which our team assesses for signs of malicious activity. It's a complex, time-consuming task."

Alpha Level will embed machine learning models into Australia Post's security operations to reduce alert noise and isolate genuine threats for analyst review. The models build a baseline of normal activity, enabling faster and more accurate anomaly detection.

"Machine learning helps by building models that understand what 'good' looks like in that data, allowing us to detect threats faster and more accurately. This not only speeds up detection but strengthens our overall security in an increasingly complex digital environment," said Cartwright.

Alpha Level was co-founded by Dr Josh Neil, a former Principal Data Scientist at Microsoft and Los Alamos National Laboratories PhD holder specialising in machine learning, statistical mathematics and AI, and former US National Science Foundation program director Mike Pozmantier.

Alpha Level Chief Technology Officer Dr Josh Neil said the partnership demonstrated the potential of machine learning at enterprise scale.

"By embedding world-class machine learning into Australia Post's security operations, we're helping to elevate threat detection speed and precision - ensuring resilience against the increasingly complex challenges in today's digital landscape."

Cartwright said the partnership extended beyond Australia Post's own infrastructure.

"By bolstering our cyber posture, we're not only protecting Australia Post's infrastructure - we're also helping to lift the security of the thousands of licensed post offices and small businesses that depend on our network to serve their communities."

The announcement follows a period of heightened cyber risk across Australian critical infrastructure. In the first half of 2025, Australia recorded 57 ransomware attacks - double the number for the same period the previous year - with IT and software supply chain incidents rising 25% compared to 2024, according to cybersecurity firm Cyble.