If you have information that can be used by another person to his or her advantage, it could well be stolen. It's as simple as that. In 2015-16 CERT Australia, the government's Computer Emergency Response Team, responded to 14,804 incidents affecting Australian businesses, 418 of which involved systems of national interest as well as critical infrastructure.

That undoubtedly understates the number of attacks experienced by Australian firms, who usually under-report, and does not include attacks on Australian government websites.