From the prospect of drying up the beer supply in Japan, to crippling prestige car production in the UK, and wreaking havoc with millions of customer records in Australia: the increased scale and sophistication of cyber-attacks around the world puts a new focus on mobile threat detection and device security.
Ransomware group Qilin claimed responsibility for forcing Japan’s best-selling beermaker Ashai to halt production at its factories across the country after being hit by a cyber-attack and the theft of 27 GB of data. Meanwhile, the origins of the ransomware attack on Jaguar Land Rover in the UK that forced an immediate halt to its manufacturing operations at factories across the UK, Brazil, Slovakia, and India are still to be determined. Though the UK government has been compelled to underwrite a £1.5 billion ($3 billion) loan guarantee to protect JLR and its vast network of smaller suppliers. Back at home, the hacker collective Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters claims to be behind the leaking of more than five million Qantas customer records on the dark following a major cyber-attack on Salesforce.
Mobile threat management and device security
These days, even a moderate attack can have consequences that stretch far and wide, including the serious ramifications of stolen customer data. In terms of financial cost, a recent report from IBM pegs the average cost of a breach at US$4.4 million ($6.6 million). But as the above examples from Ashai, JLR, and Qantas and Salesforce show, it’s not just the inherent financial cost to the attacked business. Any disruption to commercial operations can lead to widespread knock-on effects across the ecosystem of customers and suppliers.
At a time when there’s unprecedented strain on the corporate network, the Australian Signal’s Directorate (ASD) has urged Australian companies to prioritise boosting their organisation’s cyber security. With tactics used by cybercriminals evolving to social engineering and exploiting human trust and familiarity to gain access to sensitive data, it’s more important than ever to stay ahead of threats like mobile malware and device vulnerabilities.
As October is Cyber Security Awareness Month 2025, ASD’s Australian Cyber Security Centre has flagged the need for businesses to take urgent action and improve enterprise cyber security. This year, the recommendations focus on four key actions, namely: event logging; legacy technology; supply chain and third-party risk; and quantum readiness.
Event logging
Because event logs can provide a crucial line of defence through visibility and audit trails, it’s critical to adhere to best practices and continuously track events. In this way, you’ll gain a comprehensive view of what’s happening in your network and improve the security and resilience of critical systems, enabling suspicious behaviour to be promptly detected and neutralised.
Likewise, Mobile Threat Management is crucial for understanding and defending against the evolving landscape of mobile malware. Tracking both existing and newly emerging malware is essential to identify new tactics and protect against cross-platform attacks.
Legacy technology
It stands to reason that because legacy IT does not receive security updates, it’s more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The most effective strategy to mitigate the threats associated with legacy IT is to ensure your IT refresh schedule is systematic, with workflows to replace ageing devices before they become a risk.
Supply chain and third-party risk
Choosing partners and service providers that have a demonstrated commitment to security principles is paramount. Not only will this assist with reducing the potential number of vulnerabilities, but it also increases the likelihood that patches and updates are carried out in a timely way in the businesses across your supply chain.
Quantum readiness
Because the future is never far away and quantum computing is evolving at breakneck speed, the ASD recommends that enterprises adopt post-quantum cryptography measures to safeguard digital infrastructure. In a quantum computing world, once secure communications, information, and data could be at a greater risk of compromise, so it makes sense to educate your team now on what this technology will mean for cyber security in the not-too-distant future.
Managed IT services
In this constantly evolving threat landscape, imei provides a safe pair of hands to manage all aspects of enterprise mobility management and device security. Our managed IT services team of highly experienced and qualified technicians have a deep and demonstrable knowledge of the mobile technology ecosystem. imei also has strategic partnerships with leading vendors, including attaining Telstra platinum partner status for enterprise mobility, unified communications and collaboration, data & IP, security, and project professional services.
Essential Eight Cyber security – Telstra Level 3
As further proof of our cyber-security pedigree, we hold Telstra’s highest level of partner endorsement for data security and privacy processes as assessed by CyberGRX, a global third-party cyber-risk management platform. We adhere to Telstra's Australian Cyber Security Essential Eight requirements for information and physical security, aligning with best practices for security patching, encryption, system access control, physical and personnel access, data loss prevention, data recovery capability, security incident response, and vulnerability management.
Mitigate cybersecurity risks
If you’re looking for a managed IT services provider for cyber-security defences, please get in touch. We are happy to demonstrate the breadth of our current certifications and qualifications across enterprise mobility technologies, mobile threat management, and device security.
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