The home of the CIA and the Pentagon has signed a deal with Victoria to share cyber security information.
Travelling from the US, Virginia's Governor Terry McAuliffe on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding with Victorian premier Daniel Andrews to allow the two states to share research on cyber crime and online privacy.
The deal will also look at bringing Virginian companies to Australia and vice versa, and to open trade options with locally produced products.
"What you may be doing here may be something we're not doing," Governor McAuliffe told reporters on Sunday.
"We can learn from that, so it's a great sharing job creator on both sides."
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
He said this year alone, Virginia had to deal with 53 million cyber hacks and warned the threat of cyber crime is high.
"We've just gone through an election where the Russians were involved in hacking Democratic Party emails," he said.
"I think the issue of cyber security is raised to such a high level today."
In September a Victorian-led cyber security delegation visited Virginia, helping facilitate the deal.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the deal will deliver a safer world and at the same time economic opportunities for both states.
Victoria is home to the largest cyber security cluster in Australia, with the Oceania Cyber Security Centre and the CSIRO's Data 61 synergy security and innovation hub opening this year.
In 2015 cyber crime cost the Australia economy $17 billion and affected 46 per cent of small to medium sized businesses.
