Cyberattacks in Australia continue to rise year after year.

Over the 2020-21 financial year, Australia saw a 13% increase in reported cybercrime. This is the equivalent of a cyberattack being reported every 8 minutes, with self-reported losses from cybercrime totalling more than $33 billion. These facts are provided by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) in their ACSC Annual Cyber Threat Report 2020-21.

The Australian government released Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy of 2020, which highlighted the large investment being made to execute the cyber strategy over the next decade.

This clearly positions cybersecurity among the most critical issues on the national agenda. In July 2021, the ACSC updated its Essential Eight Maturity Model based on its ongoing cybersecurity experience and the changing threat landscape. Australian organisations of any size can utilise the maturity model to target a level of maturity suitable for their environment.