When asked if cyber breaches are merely hitting the headlines more often, or if there really is an escalation in the frequency of cyberattacks, those on the front lines of defence at Microsoft, Telstra and law firm MinterEllison are quick to say, it is both.

And the challenge of dealing with cyber threats is enormous. Recent figures from Telstra’s “Cleaner Pipes” initiative, helping to reduce instances of customer data breaches, reveal that over a month, Telstra blocked hundreds of millions of scam calls, SMS texts and emails and tens of millions of malicious domains.