Major Australian companies increase spending on cyber security

The massive increase in cyber attacks has been driven by an “explosion” of technology usage, says Accenture Cyber Defence Lead Mark Sayer. Pictured is a display that is warning about a cyber attack. Picture: Getty

• JESS MALCOLM

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• 12:46PM FEBRUARY 7, 2022
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Major Australian companies are investing more in cyber security, with new research from Accenture revealing 84 per cent of larger operators have increased spending on technology initiatives in a bid to combat growing cyber threats.

The research is part of Accenture’s Cybersecurity Resilience report which found companies of all sizes were investing in measures to strengthen their cyber resilience.

About 63 per cent of companies across the board increased their spend by one to nine per cent, and 21 per cent of businesses increased their spend by up to one quarter.

Despite the increase, 81 per cent of respondents said that staying ahead of attackers was a “constant battle” and that the cost was unsustainable — a significant increase on the 69 per cent of respondents in 2020.

The threat of cyber warfare is continuing to escalate, with the report finding a 32 per cent increase in the number of cyber attacks globally while some attacks such as ransomware have experienced much greater growth.

Globally, the study identified more than half (55 per cent) of large companies were not effectively stopping cyber attacks, finding breaches or reducing the impact of the breaches.

The report found companies which spent money on cyber protections reduced the cost of successful attacks by 48 per cent, or $294,000 when compared to those which did not.

Companies which spent money on robust protections against cyber attacks were also found to have suffered fewer attacks which resulted in breaches, and a lower share of attacks which resulted in significant damages.

It’s the first time in human history that a criminal on the other side of the world can launch an attack without anything stopping them”, said sayer. Picture: istock

Accenture Cyber Defence Lead Mark Sayer said the new report showed how many organisations were still underprepared when it came to cyber attacks, highlighting that the massive increase in cyber attacks had been driven by an “explosion” of technology usage.

“We have seen a massive increase in cyber attacks in the last few years across all kinds of organisations and we are now having to shift the mindset on how we scale up and better prepare for them in the future,” Mr Sayer said.

“One of the major drivers of this increase is that technology usage in all organisations has just exploded, which means a lot more businesses are vulnerable to attacks.

“Anybody is potentially a victim for these organisations and the biggest challenge we are facing right now is that these are criminals who are making money and there is nothing stopping this from escalating. It's the first time in human history that a criminal on the other side of the world can launch an attack without anything stopping them.”

Mr Sayer said Australia’s overall resilience to cyber attacks was “on par” with other countries around the world, but singled out a weakness in the nation’s ability to defend itself against attacks on critical infrastructure.

The federal government is cracking down on nefarious digital conduct, launching a new Australian Federal Police-led cybercrime task force to combat the high and rising volume of cybercrime following a spate of attacks on critical infrastructure assets including hospitals, businesses and government.

With many of these attacks originating from overseas, Mr Sayer said the current nation-state based laws were not adequate in a changing global climate, and called on the federal government to work with its international partners to establish global guidelines in a bid to stamp out cyber crimes and bring attackers to justice.

“Governments should work together to create international laws and global guidelines to stamp out cyber criminals and bring them to justice,” Mr Sayer said.