Australia publishes Annual Cyber Threat Report 2022–23

A recent cyber threat report released by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) ASD Cyber Threat Report 2022-2023 highlights that Australian companies and critical infrastructure are targeted by state and non-state malicious actors. The report indicates hackers linked to China and Russia in particular have also been detected targeting Australian organisations.

The report indicates a 23% increase in reported cybercrimes in 2022-23, with around 94,000 cybercrime reports being made to law enforcement agencies. The average cost of attacks to companies increased by 14%. ASD was involved in more than 1,100 major cybersecurity incidents, such as ones that crippled federal government agencies or critical infrastructure, resulting in ‘isolated’ or ‘extensive compromise’ of sensitive data.

The average loss for small businesses hit by cyberattacks was around $30,000 in 2020-21, which indicates an increase of almost $46,000 from the previous year.

While most cybercrime reports came in from Queensland and Victoria, ASD shared that ‘the highest average reported losses were by victims in New South Wales (around $32,000 per cybercrime report where a financial loss occurred) and the Australian Capital Territory (around $29,000).’

The reason cited for the increase in attacks on Australia was its defence agreement (AUKUS) with Britain and the USA.

The report further points to the lack of cooperation from companies hit by cyberattacks and that the food and grocery sector was vulnerable to future cyber attacks.