A significant increase in the frequency, severity, and cost of cybercrime on businesses was confirmed by the Australian Signals Directorate last week.
Its ASD Cyber Threat Report 2022-23 shows a jump of 23% in cybercrime reports, with one report now received every 6 minutes. The top three cybercrime types for businesses were email compromise, business email compromise, and online banking fraud. For individuals, it was identity fraud, online banking fraud, and online shopping fraud which accounted for 52% of all reports by individuals.
The ASD responded to more than 1100 cyber security incidents, with more than 10% involving ransomware attacks with the potential to lock down a network or reveal sensitive data unless a ransom is paid.
And in terms of cost, the report finds the average cost of cybercrime jumping by 14% over last year. This amounts to $71,600 for large companies, $97,200 for mid-size enterprises, and $46,000 for small businesses.
Likewise, as ASD urges businesses to ramp up cybersecurity provisions, it is also asking individuals to be more guarded when shopping online as the festive season unfolds. As some of this online shopping will be conducted from corporate devices, it’s important to make sure your staff are all suitably trained on avoiding online shopping scams.
Substantial increase in cybercrime
With a steady increase in the frequency and severity of cyberattacks and the potential for greater harm to businesses and individuals, Australian organisations need to invest more in cybersecurity risk management. As part of the cybersecurity risk management process, administrators need to stay on top of the latest attack methods – for each type of device on the network.
With the end of the year approaching, it’s a good time to think about conducting a security audit. imei can help you identify any vulnerabilities and maximize the protection you have in place for all entry points into your network.
Continual cybersecurity uplift
In these times of heightened cybersecurity attacks, investing in a continuous process of identifying, evaluating, and addressing your organization’s cybersecurity threats should be a top priority. This includes implementing strong mobile data security initiatives.
Of course, with your resources stretched and tertiary qualified cybersecurity professionals in high demand, it’s important to be flexible in your approach to managing these issues. It’s worthwhile considering outsourcing to an experienced managed services provider like imei.
imei can help you manage everything from mobile device and security provisioning to deployment, liberating your internal tech teams to work on strategic projects. Our managed services team can expand your internal team with specific mobile data security expertise and certifications. We can help your company proactively identify security vulnerabilities and manage ransomware and other cybersecurity threats and keep you compliant with Australia’s data privacy regulations.
As a Telstra Platinum Partner, imei is compliant with the Australian Cyber Security Essential Eight information security standard as assessed by CyberGRX, a global third-party cyber-risk management platform. It’s part of our continual security uplift program to protect the data of customers, partners, and staff and includes SEC OPS accreditation – Telstra’s highest level of partner endorsement for data security and privacy processes.
