Despite a rise in state-based cyber attacks against the public and private sectors, many Australian organisations still fail to understand the risk and to recognise why they might be seen as a valuable target by foreign powers.

Cyber security awareness has primarily focused on issues around data breaches and confidentiality, but this needs to be accompanied by equal concern for the integrity and availability of business systems, says Alastair MacGibbon, chief strategy officer with CyberCX and former national cyber security adviser and head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre.