• Home
  • Managed Security
    • Managed Security
    • Managed Detection and Response
    • Security as a Service
  • Services
    • Cyber Risk and Technical Assurance
      • Segmentation and Zero Trust
      • Penetration Testing
      • Infrastructure security assessment
      • Secure Architecture Development
  • About Us
  • Resources
    • Cyber Security Blog
    • Case Studies
    • Cyber Security FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • Menu Menu

Data Breaches and Cyber Crime in Australia

Cyber Attacks, Cyber Crime Australia

Cybercrime is a widespread threat, targeting Australia and our businesses, country wide. Small to medium enterprises (SME’s), government organisations, large corporate companies and individuals are all at risk from increasing threats from the latest cyber threats and data breaches.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Targeting Scams 2019 report identified Australians lost over $634 million to scams in 2019. This however might not be the true figure as the real cost of cyber attacks is hard to estimate. It is believed to be more likely in the billions every year.

Cybercriminals are attracted to the wealth of Australia and the enormous amount of online activity, that is ever-increasing. Cyber criminals will only take advantage of the increase in online networks, especially with the pandemic forcing more businesses to go online. The opportunity is there for criminals to make even more profits than ever before.

During March 2020, cybercriminals quickly adapted their phishing methods to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic. A current report from Avast indicates that individuals have around a 5% higher chance of a cyber-attack than the previous year.

Australian businesses need to protect themselves even further from data breaches and cybercrime now, more than ever, as COVID-19 related scams are on the rise. Framework from the Australian Government’s Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) suggests safter ways to work online for enterprises.

remote working at desk

Types Cybercrime that can Occur

Types of cyber scams that are out there:

Cyber abuse – Cyber criminals may bully, harass, or stalk you or your business online.

Online Image and Blackmail – Images of you have been shared online without permission or someone is blackmailing you with the threat of posting certain images (including personal/ intimate images or videos).

Online shopping scams or persuasive fraud – When users are duped or convinced into sending money or supplies to somebody online.

Identity theft – Your personal or business identity information is stolen, and someone is accessing your online accounts with that information.

Email scams – Receiving an email including false information, or imitating a company, that has led you to send money online.

Internet fraud – When money has been taken from your account, after clicking on a malicious link or allowing remote access to your computer.

Data breaches from malware – Your system or device have been hacked from someone you may then demand money.

women sitting at desk

Data Breaches in the last 12 months

In the last year, we have seen a number of cybercrime incidents of Australian and New Zealand businesses. One of which was the attack on 47 Service NSW staff member’s email accounts, which resulted in data breaches of 186,000 customers and staff.

Resulted data breaches had to be analysed over around 3.8 million documents and 738GB of data (including transaction receipts, scans, notes and forms), over the course of a 4-month investigation.

Then there was the disruption to the New Zealand stock exchange, which halted activity over the course of four days. Surprisingly, the DDoS attack that coursed the disruption is a fairly straightforward type of cyber-attack. A sizeable collection of computers will attempt to connect to an online service at the same time, overpowering its capacity, and disrupting the system. Devices used for the attack will usually have some sort of malware attached.

Back in February, the transport company Toll had to shut down all computer systems across several sites, due to a ransomware attack, leaving customers waiting for undelivered parcels.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), reports information from the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme to help small and medium size business and enterprises, as well as individuals, understand the statistics of data breaches and cyber attacks. A report for the period from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020 shows that human error is the cause behind 34% of data breaches and the health sector is one of the hardest hit industries, reporting 22% of all breaches, 115 during that period.

The finance sector fell second behind healthcare for the amount of date breaches from January to June 2020, reporting 75 breaches; education had 44 breaches during the 6 months, insurance 35 and legal 26.

The same report shows that malicious or criminal attacks were the most common, accounting for 61% of all reports. This includes phishing attacks, malware, and ransomware scams. The OAIC report also shows ransomware attacks are on the rise from the previous 6 months, with an increase of 150%.

Out of all cases reported, 84% of personal information was breached, including home addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. Over a third of breaches involved identity information, which incudes government identity numbers, passport numbers and driving licence numbers.

Australian businesses now have to comply with Notifiable Data Breach laws in order to help protect the personal information of individuals and the organisation. Failing to comply with disclosing data breaches can result in big fines for companies.

Organisations have to but vigilant against cyber attacks and make the necessary changes in order to protect themselves and their customers. This can be done in a number of ways from making sure staff are educated on cyber awareness, performing cyber security audits, and investing in a complete security system.

If you are part of a small or large organisation, and are worried about your levels of cyber security, then why not talk to one of our experts at Cube Cyber.

Chat to our friendly professionals for a free assessment of your cyber security needs at 1300 085 366 or book in your free assessment here.

 

December 9, 2020/by Sam Topping
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://cubecyber.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/data-breaches-security-padlock-graphic.jpg 811 1280 Sam Topping http://cubecyber.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/cubecyberlogo-top.svg Sam Topping2020-12-09 03:53:182022-11-24 11:08:31Data Breaches and Cyber Crime in Australia

Quick Search

Latest Insights

  • SASE – Secure Access Service Edge: A Simple OverviewApril 21, 2022 - 11:01 pm

    Over the past couple of years businesses and corporations have had to quickly adjust to a significant increase in employees working from home. With increasing data coming from online sources into corporate networks, more SaaS apps being adopted and new types of traffic taking up increasing bandwidth (videos, collaboration, and shared editing of online documents), […]

  • Beginners Guide to Cloud Computing & How it Can Help Small BusinessesMay 13, 2021 - 5:16 am

    With more businesses working from home, it may be time to invest in cloud computing for your company. In fact, it is more than likely you are already using some form of cloud computing. If you have ever used Dropbox or Google Docs, as two examples, then you are already familiar with working from cloud-based […]

  • Top 7 Cyber Attacks Threatening SME’s (and how to prevent them)May 13, 2021 - 5:14 am

    Small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) frequently underestimate the need for cyber security protection. This miscalculation could end up being a risky strategy for those not willing to invest in the best preventative measures for their business. Just because an enterprise is small, does not mean it is not at risk from the top cyber […]

  • GDPR Cyber Security and How It Might Impact Your BusinessMarch 2, 2021 - 11:45 am

    The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), came into effect back in May 2018, but what does that mean for Australian businesses and cyber security? What is GDPR? First of all, what actually is GDPR? The GDPR is short for General Data Protection Regulation. It was brought in by the European Union on 25th […]

  • How to Prepare A Cyber Defence Plan for Your EnterpriseFebruary 12, 2021 - 4:56 am

    No business, small or large is not at risk from a cyber attack. From small businesses to huge government organisations, all companies must ensure they have an excellent cyber defence plan in place. Planning what to do in a cyber attack is just as important as managing active preventative measures. Many smaller enterprises do not […]

  • Cyber Security Australia: Increasing Attacks on BusinessesFebruary 12, 2021 - 3:21 am

    Cyber security in Australia is an essential tool to protect businesses both large and small, from advancing cyber crime threats. In this current environment it is vital that no matter the size of the company, everyone is doing what they can to stay secure online. In the past, businesses only had to really worry about […]

  • Cyber Security Risk: What would it cost if your company could not work for one day?February 12, 2021 - 2:56 am

    Cyber security risk is a problem all companies face, from large corporations to small, independent businesses. But cyber security is much more than a simple IT issue, it can have a huge impact on your revenue…and reputation. Have you ever thought about what you could lose if your business were to go offline from a […]

Choose Category

  • Advanced Development Capability
  • Assessment and Insights
  • Case Studies
  • Cloud Services
  • Cube News
  • Cyber Attacks
  • Cyber Crime Australia
  • Enterprise
  • Expert Advice
  • Incident Response
  • Industry
  • Internet of Things
  • Large Corporation
  • Managed Protection
  • Operational Technology
  • Remote Working
  • SME's
  • Threat Protection
  • Vulnerability Assessments

Tag Cloud

Cloud Computing Cyber Tips Data Breach emergency plan GDPR Hackers Malware News Office 365 Phishing Attacks Ransomware

Wondering how much our solutions cost?

GET A FREE QUOTE

Not sure yet? Get a Free Trial now.

GET A FREE TRIAL

ABOUT CUBE CYBER

About Us
Contact Us

CALL 1300 085 366

SERVICES

Cyber Risk & Technical Assurance
Segmentation and Zero Trust
Penetration Testing
Infrastructure security assessment
Secure Architecture Development

MANAGED SECURITY

Managed Security
Managed Detection & Response
Security-as-a-Service

RESOURCES

Cyber Security Blog
Case Studies
Cyber Security FAQs

ISO 27001 CERTIFIED

© CubeCyber 2023. All Right Reserved | Designed & Developed by Escope

IT Cyber Security for SME’s is Important Now More Than EverPhishing Attacks: What Exactly Are They?
Scroll to top

We use cookies to make your experience of our websites better. By using and further navigating this website you accept this.

Accept & Close

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy