The State of Cybersecurity in Australia (2024)

July 30, 2024

iTnews, Australia’s leading publication for technology executives and enterprise IT professionals, has released their latest State of Cybersecurity report, highlighting many crucial areas that Australian businesses must remain wary of. Cybersecurity in Australia remains an area that continues to evolve, and businesses must remain vigilant to keep their sensitive data and private information safe from cybercriminals.

Some of the key focuses of this report related to the cybersecurity of data, cloud, endpoint, and email. Within this blog, we will take a look at this report, and break down the key trends and challenges that businesses continue to face within the current state of cybersecurity in Australia.

Cybersecurity in Australia – Overview

graphic of a business person sitting at a desk on their laptop typing with a padlock graphic above

In 2024, the landscape of cybersecurity in Australia is more dynamic and challenging than ever. With this rapid digital transformation seen across various sectors, businesses are increasingly exposed to sophisticated cyber threats.

The volume and complexity of cyber threats have surged in Australia over the past year. According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), ransomware attacks, phishing schemes, and data breaches are at an all-time high.

These threats are not just limited to large enterprises; small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are also prime targets. Cybercriminals are leveraging advanced tactics like AI-powered attacks and deepfake technology, making traditional security measures insufficient.

In response to escalating cyber threats, the Australian government has tightened cybersecurity regulations. The introduction of the Critical Infrastructure Security Legislation Amendment Bill has imposed stringent compliance requirements on businesses.

This includes mandatory reporting of cyber incidents and enhanced protective measures. For businesses, staying compliant is not just about avoiding penalties; it’s about safeguarding their reputation and customer trust.

As the cybersecurity challenges grow, the role of IT support and managed service providers becomes indispensable. Businesses are increasingly relying on MSPs to manage their IT infrastructure and security needs. MSPs offer a proactive approach to cybersecurity, providing continuous monitoring, regular security updates, and incident response. This allows businesses to focus on their core operations while ensuring their digital assets are protected.

Cybersecurity in Australia – Data Security

graphic of a padlock sitting on top of a motherboard

For many Australian businesses, data is their most valued asset. Due to this very reason, cybercriminals have a keen interest in gaining unsolicited access to private systems, and exploiting a company’s sensitive data and confidential information.

To put things into perspective, cybersecurity researcher Privacy Affairs completed a study, which found that finding an individual’s personal information can be worth as much as $1532. This is leading Australian businesses to further focus their efforts on protecting employee and organisation data.

This report by iTnews, focused on the state of cybersecurity in Australia, speaks on encryption and its future. One of the most important components of data security is that of encryption, and making data unreadable to cybercriminals. However, the existence of data residing within multiple service providers, such as Software as a Service (SaaS) apps, and public clouds, has made keeping confidential information secure much more difficult.

Encryption as a concept is facing an incredibly difficult challenge in the coming years, with quantum computing becoming more powerful, and more accessible to cybercriminals. The reason quantum computing is such an alarming feature in relation to data security, is due to the way in which they will become powerful enough to crack traditional encryption methods.

Cybersecurity in Australia – Cloud Security

person typing on laptop with cloud security graphics above

When discussing the state of cybersecurity in Australia, cloud services have increased in both usage, and trust, from Australian businesses in the years since its inception. With billions of dollars of investment put into cloud security in the last decade, there is significant backing from cloud services to maintain the safety of all data uploaded.

This large financial investment is largely aimed towards the overall security levels of cloud services, maintaining robust security standards, and decreasing the risks involved with such a service.

One of the main areas for spending is in access control, in the form of cloud access security brokers (CASBs) which sit between cloud services and their users, and impose access policies for cloud resources and applications, delivering visibility, data control and analytics.

Another tool that is gaining favour is cloud workload protection platforms (CWPPs), which constantly monitor for and eliminate threats from cloud workloads and containers. CWPPs detect cloud workloads and run assessments, monitor networks, detect issues, and employ security standards, while providing superior visibility into the overall cloud environment.

Whilst there are estimations that 99% of all cloud security failures are due to some degree of human error, this is not from the security of the cloud itself, but more so the policies involved alongside the technologies for controlling and securing the environment.

Cybersecurity in Australia – Endpoint Security

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Endpoint security refers to the practice of safeguarding network endpoints, such as desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets, from cyber threats. It involves using software solutions and strategies to detect, prevent, and respond to malicious activities targeting these devices.

In terms of cybersecurity in Australia for businesses, remote working, mobile devices, and the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to an increase in the volume of network endpoints. That has also created an enormous opportunity for cybercriminals, who now find themselves with a much greater range of opportunities through which they can target business data and applications.

Research from Ponemon found that criminals are quick to exploit weaknesses in endpoint security, with 80 percent of successful breaches coming from new or unknown zero-day attacks

Unfortunately, over 90% of cyber incidents are caused by human error. Endpoint protection continues to be undermined by human factors such as weak or poorly stored passwords, poor data handling practices, or people falling for increasingly clever phishing campaigns.

Cybersecurity in Australia – Email Security

graphic of email symbols for email cybersecurity in australia

Email is one of the oldest methods of attack for cybercriminals, as well as being one of their most successful, with research suggesting up to 91% of all cyberattacks start with an email.

This has been seen quite clearly with the increasing prevalence of phishing cyberattacks. It is quite clear as to why that is the case, with research finding that in 2023, the average global cost of a data breach due to phishing was $7.25 million.

While phishing emails have often been detectable due to poor grammar and formatting, or from using suspicious looking email addresses, cybercriminals are using generative AI to progress the quality of email messages and make them trickier to identify, with Europol even reporting in 2023 that ChatGPT’s ability to draft highly realistic text was prevalent.

Not surprisingly, this is leading many cyber experts to consider a zero-trust approach to all forms of digital partnerships, such as through the introduction of multi-factor authentication and the continuous monitoring of user behaviour.

Sameera Bandara, a strategic ICT consultant at Calibre Group, notes the increasing challenge of preventing all spam and phishing emails, and the support that can be provided by both education and tooling. “A good security education program with things like web-based training on how to detect a phishing email is critical,” Bandera said.

Cybersecurity in Australia – Contact Adept IT Solutions Today

Cybersecurity in Australia is at an all-time high now in terms of its necessity for businesses. Those without it are opening up their businesses for cybercriminals to take advantage and obtain or exploit their sensitive data and information.

If your business is unsure of where to start when it comes to implementing a robust cybersecurity system, Adept IT Solutions has a team filled with experienced staff who would love to assist. All staff are trained and up to date with the latest and greatest in cybersecurity services.

Contact the team today, and take the first steps towards a safe, secure, and reliable IT system for your business. You can get in touch with our dedicated team via phone at 1300 423 378 (ADEPT) or email us at info@adept-it.com.au

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