OKTA Australia and New Zealand Managing Director Phil Goldie has warned the country is “always under attack” by cybercriminals, costing the economy an estimated $33 billion each year.
Australia has seen a significant number of major attacks over the past few years, including breaches at Medibank, Optus, Latitude Financial, DP World, and the Victorian court system.
A recent survey by consulting giant KPMG found cyber risks were the top concern among Australian CEOs, with digital transformation and adapting to emerging technologies also weighing on the minds of business leaders.
Speaking to Sky News Australia on Sunday, Mr Goldie said the findings were unsurprising as he outlined the “significant” impact of cyberattacks on Australian organisations.
“If I think about the last sort of 12 months, I think 2023 will probably go down as the year when this sort of cyberattack pattern went from being a black swan event to very much business as usual,” he said.
“You can see that in the numbers, the one (attack) in six minutes, every six minutes, statistic is really only what’s reported. It’s probably in reality two, three, four times higher than that.
“The costs are high, it’s costing an average of $50,000 to $100,000 for every organisation that’s impacted and net to the Australian economy it’s $33 billion at best estimates, so significant problem at significant scale.”
Mr Goldie explained criminal groups were putting “more and more” thought into attacks, with increasingly sophisticated plans and technology implemented to breach cyber security measures.
Phishing attacks in particular are becoming “extremely complex,” he continued, and are making use of AI technology in order to catch out potential victims.
In its annual incident report, The Australian Signals Directorate found ransomware was also becoming an increasingly common tool for hackers, with Australia seeing a roughly seven per cent increase in such attacks last year.
Ransomware was involved in the Medibank, Optus and Latitude Financial attacks, with hackers demanding payments totalling millions of dollars in exchange for not publishing stolen data.
The ASD also reported the cost of breaches was being felt most by medium-sized businesses, with organisations of that size facing an average cost of $97,200 per reported cybercrime.
As the risk of cyberattacks has escalated, experts have called for greater resources to be devoted toward protecting companies, as well as regulatory changes to aid businesses in fighting back against criminals.
Mr Goldie highlighted KPMG’s finding that 35 per cent of those surveyed saw building resilience to cyberattacks as the number one priority for the next three to five years as evidence business leaders saw the fight as a long-term effort, adding that hiring employees with greater digital skills was also a significant signal companies felt they needed to do more.
The OKTA Managing Director also welcomed new government regulation on AI, saying it was due “huge credit” for efforts to improve Australia’s cybersecurity laws.
(SKY NEWS)
