New research shows cyber crime in Australia increasing by over 25% in 2017, the second highest rate of countries surveyed, with Australian businesses increasing spend on their cyber defences accordingly.
Accenture and the Ponemon Institute have released the freely downloadable "2017 Cost of Cyber Crime Study", offering "insights on the security investments that make a difference".
With cyber crime is the digital Black Plague of the modern era, it's sadly no surprise to see Australian businesses having experienced "an average of 53 security breaches in 2017, a 25% increase, but significantly less than the global average of 130".
In Australia, "malicious insiders, phishing and social engineering" are the costliest attack types, with a price tag of $136,804 and $112,902 per incident, respectively. Detection accounts for one third of security costs on average.
{loadposition alex08}The survey of 169 interviews revealed that "the use of AI and advanced analytics in cyber security is low, with only 24% and 32% of companies respectively having deployed these technologies. However, these technologies were found to produce amongst the highest level of cost savings when compared to other security and defence costs".
Josh Kennedy-White, managing director of Accenture Security, Asia Pacific, said: "With cyber incidents on the rise, and ever evolving in terms of scale and sophistication, Australian businesses should ensure they are appropriately prepared. It is encouraging to see strong investment in this field, however it is clear that businesses should consider the targeted deployment of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence in their cyber defences.
“These advanced technologies represent significant return on investment.”
So, what are some of the other relevant findings?
These include:
- Information loss is one of the most expensive consequences of cyber-attacks in Australia, second to business disruption (41% and 32% respectively); and
- The most common security technologies deployed in Australia are security intelligence systems (64%), advanced identity and access governance (60%).
And what are some "steps to improve effectiveness of cyber security efforts?"
By taking the following three steps, we're told that Australian organisations can further improve the effectiveness of their cyber security efforts to fend off and reduce the impact of cyber-crime:
- Build cyber security on a strong foundation: Invest in the ‘brilliant basics’ such as security intelligence and advanced access management and yet recognise the need to innovate to stay ahead of hackers.
- Undertake extreme pressure testing: Organisations should not rely on compliance alone to enhance their security profile but undertake extreme pressure testing to identify vulnerabilities more rigorously than even the most highly motivated attacker.
- Invest in breakthrough innovation: Balance spend on new technologies, specifically analytics and artificial intelligence, to enhance program effectiveness and scale value.
You can freely download the full report here.
