Cyber threat to Australian govt, businesses is growing: agency

The news: An annual cyber threat report has revealed a surge in cybersecurity threats in Australia, highlighting the growing risk for the government, businesses and individuals.

The numbers: The annual Cyber Threat Report by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) found the agency received 94,000 reports of cybercrimes over the past year, a 23% jump from the previous year. Calls to the ASD’s Cyber Security hotline rose by nearly a third to over 33,000, while it responded to over 1,100 cyber security incidents, with over 10% of those related to attacks using ransomware.

The context: The government intelligence agency said Australia is a particularly big target for many syndicates and cybercriminals because it is a wealthy country with a large population of internet users. More than 2000 victims suffered an average financial loss of $39,000 from business email compromises.

Digital transgressions also weighed heavily on businesses, with the cost of cybercrimes increasing 14% to average almost $100,000 in losses for medium-sized organisations. Australia is also on the receiving end of attacks from state actors, with China remaining the most common culprit due to its broad capabilities, followed by Russia and, to a lesser extent, Iran. The federal government reported the most cybersecurity incidents, followed by state and local counterparts.