Many Australian organisations are dealing with up to 5000 cyberattacks a day, more than any other country in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a new report by Cisco.
Cisco’s just-published 2018 Asia Pacific Security Capabilities benchmark study indicates that 90 percent of Australian companies deal with up to 5000 threats a day, with 33 percent copping 100,000 to 150,000 attacks daily – while seven percent are seeing more than 500,000 threats each day.
This means the cost of an attack in Australia is the most expensive in Asia-Pacific, Cisco adds.
Around 52 percent of businesses claim breaches cost anywhere between US$1 million to $5 million (A$1.4 million to $7 million) while nine percent claim the cost was more than $10 million. This includes costs from lost revenue, loss of customers, and out of pocket expenses caused by a data breach, Cisco says.
Cisco A/NZ’s cybersecurity chief Steve Moros told media the results of the study highlight both the scale and complexity of the challenge faced by companies.
“The launch of the Notifiable Data Breaches (NBD) scheme early this year – in which organisations have to report the breaches that happen – means that businesses not only risk financial loss but also reputational loss if a breach occurs,” he said.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has noted 305 data breaches since the launch of the NDB in February this year, with criminal attacks the largest source of breaches, followed by human error and system faults.