Cybersecurity companies in Australia have worked with different companies to focus on protecting their clients’ businesses and complying with regulations, based on a recent analysis.
The Australian Cyber Emergency Response Team (AusCERT) studied how the industry landscape for online security has changed in recent years. It discovered a growing trend among companies’ senior management, which has begun to acknowledge the need for tighter online security. Their actions come at the right time due to the growing number of threats, such as identity theft, malware, and phishing attacks.
Top Priorities
New regulations have led most businesses in the country to adopt stricter cyber security for their operations. An example involves the Notifiable Data Breaches Act that was launched in 2017. Australian companies need to report any instance of data breaches to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and inform affected individuals if the incident compromises their personal information.
Non-compliance with the law can lead to costly penalties and a damaged reputation, so it is unsurprising why many business owners want to prevent a cybersecurity incident instead of fixing an existing problem. Government agencies are also required to comply with the law and any other business regulated under the Australian Privacy Act 1988.
The Most Targeted Industries
AusCERT’s report showed that cybercriminals targeted the following industries in 2018:
- Education and training
- Financial and insurance services
- Professional, scientific and technical
- Information media and telecommunications
- Health care and social assistance
Education and training organizations accounted for more than 40 percent of all incidents in the previous year. In contrast, the health care and social assistance sector’s vulnerability significantly improved as it accounted for around 32 percent of attacks. In 2016, more than 50 percent of all incidents targeted the industry. On the other hand, financial and insurance services have become more at risk with around 25 percent of incidents involving the sector compared to approximately 15 percent in 2017.
Data loss and stolen confidential information are the most expected type of security incident to happen in 2019. Cybercriminals can use scams to perform these two threats.
The Top Scams of 2018
These days, hackers use different techniques and strategies to orchestrate an attack, but the most common types in 2018 comprised identity theft, malware, and phishing attacks, according to an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) report.
Companies should be more aware of “remote access scams” and other fraudulent schemes that involve victims with “threats to life, arrest or other” scams to influence them into providing valuable information such as personal details. Basically, the ACCC said that the online attacks caused the public and private sector to lose almost $490 million.
In the end, while larger companies have more to lose with cyber threats, it does not mean that small and mid-size business owners should ignore the importance of online security. In fact, hackers are aware that a lot of small companies don’t have the necessary tools to prevent digital attacks. You must know your vulnerability today by consulting an IT service provider.
