As we enter the silly season and our minds turn to the end-of-year break, you can count on cybercriminals to ramp up their malicious cyber activity. According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), the organisation spearheading the Australian Government’s efforts to improve cyber security, the number and sophistication of cyberthreats in Australia is growing. There is now a ransomware report every 7 minutes, amounting to more than 76,000 cybercrime reports over the year.
Australia’s high median wealth per adult also makes the country a prime candidate for cybercrimes directed at individuals. Online banking and shopping as well as high value transactions like property settlements are being targeted through business email compromise.
A number of cybersecurity trends highlighted in the ACSC report give cause for concern:
Ransomware groups have further evolved their business model, seeking to maximise their impact by targeting the reputation of Australian organisations. In 2021–22, ransomware groups stole and released the personal information of hundreds of thousands of Australians as part of their extortion tactics. The cost of ransomware extends beyond the ransom demands, and may include system reconstruction, lost productivity, and lost customers.
Worldwide, critical infrastructure networks are increasingly targeted. Both state actors and cybercriminals view critical infrastructure as an attractive target. The continued targeting of Australia’s critical infrastructure is of concern as successful attacks could put access to essential services at risk. Potential disruptions to Australian essential services in 2021–22 were averted by effective cyber defences, including network segregation and effective, collaborative incident response.
The rapid exploitation of critical public vulnerabilities became the norm. Australian organisations, and even individuals, were indiscriminately targeted by malicious cyber actors. Malicious actors persistently scanned for any network with unpatched systems, sometimes seeking to use these as entry points for higher value targets. The majority of significant incidents ACSC responded to in 2021–22 were due to inadequate patching.”
Source: ACSC Annual Cyber Threat Report, July 2021 to June 2022
ACSC’s report also pointed to increases in:
- Financial losses due to business email compromise amounting to over $98 million
- Average loss value, now at $64,000 per report
- Average cost per cybercrime report, now more than $39,000 for small business, $88,000 for medium business, and $62,000 for large business an average increase of 14%
- The number of software vulnerabilities publicly reported, up by 25%.
At this time of year, it’s important not to get relaxed about cybersecurity, meaning it should continue to be a key business priority that is resourced accordingly. Though, if you have existing staff shortages and are grappling with a lack of available talent and skills made worse because of the holidays, conducting routine fixes like patching, let alone managing security at the highest level can be difficult to achieve. In this scenario, it’s worth considering a managed service option to boost your internal capabilities.
imei managed services can boost your internal team with specific mobile security expertise and professional certifications to help you take care of identifying security vulnerabilities and managing ransomware and other cybersecurity threats.
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With an outsourced solution conducting routine fixes like patching and maintaining security at the highest level, your team can focus on other demands. Our managed service offering also provides a range of imei Intelligence dashboards with analysis and reporting on communication performance and optimisation.
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