Speaking from London on April 21, Austin said it would be an important deterrent to online espionage if Australia was able to build a significant offensive capability.

But the bigger question is, he said, is whether Australia can build the defenses, whether we're investing enough money in the defenses against the sort of activities that we're seeing from a range of threat sources.

Austin added that the new cyber strategy recognized the shifts in cyber cooperation in Asia Pacific, such as neighboring Indonesia and working closer to China. Australia has a long way to go to manage such complex relationships.

He also acknowledged that cyber retaliatory capability was absolutely indispensable, citing that over 40 countries have already been known to be developing offensive cyber capability.

It's a normal part of modern warfare, Austin said.

Austin previously served as EWI's Vice President for the Worldwide Security Initiative. He's also a professor at the Australian Center for Cybersecurity at the University of New South Wales in Canberra.

His recent publications include 2014's Cyber Policy in China.

Click here to watch the interview.