Australia’s digital economy needs strong cybersecurity to thrive

Cybersecurity remains top of mind for the Australian government, businesses and consumers, and the reason for this is clear: cyber-enabled crimes can cause billions of dollars in economic damage every year. Building a strong, cybersecure Australia is a cornerstone of a robust digital economy.

On average, one cybercrime is reported every six minutes, according to the ASD Cyber Threat Report 2022-2023, with ransomware alone causing up to $3 billion in damages to the Australian economy every year.

Robust cybersecurity must become achievable and accessible.Credit: iStock

To address cyber risks, the federal government’s 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy calls for a combination of world-class cyber shields, extending from protecting critical infrastructure to empowering strong and secure businesses and citizens.

The federal government is also investing an extra $145.5 million into expanding the national Digital ID system and scheme over the next four years, adding to more than the $600 million already spent on a range of cybersecurity initiatives.

Everyone has a responsibility to become cyber aware

One of the keys to tackling cyber risk is creating confident, knowledgeable and cyber-aware citizens and employees, says Matt Salier, chief executive officer of the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre.

“People are often the last line of defence, so Australians need to be armed with both the right tools and the right knowledge to protect against growing cyber threats,” Salier says. “Everyone needs to accept some of the responsibility.

“The Australian Cyber Security Strategy sets out action plans which lay out a big journey for us to go on as a society, otherwise we risk losing our position in the global digital economy.”

Along with cyber education and training, Salier says businesses must also re-establish digital trust and reassure customers that they have appropriate cybersecurity in place.

“We’ve seen multiple examples in the past 12 months when cyber defences have been found wanting and, as a result, consumer trust has been eroded,” he says. “Consumers rightly have a role to play in holding businesses to account, as to how well they are building their cybersecurity and resilience.

“To regain that digital trust, businesses must be able to adequately demonstrate that they take cyber threats seriously, which includes putting the right processes and systems in place to protect sensitive customer data.”

Big opportunity for small business

While awareness of cybersecurity is growing across every segment of the economy, small to medium businesses may think they are not worth targeting. The fact is that 43 per cent of cyber-enabled crimes are aimed at small businesses, according to Accenture.

Cybersecurity is important for businesses of all sizes.Credit: iStock

The consequences of an incident can be severe and around 60 per cent of SMEs never recover, going out of business within six months of a data breach or cyber-enabled crime, according to the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission.

As such, it is critical for Australia’s SMEs to have access to reliable security tools from trusted advisors, says Min Livanidis, Digital Trust, Cyber Security & Data Public Policy lead with AWS.

Small businesses are the backbone of the Australian economy and the impact of cyber-enabled crimes can do long-lasting and sometimes irreparable damage, Livanidis says, so they need to ensure they plan ahead, and have confidence in the security and robustness of their digital systems.

“Looking at the Australian Cyber Security Strategy, there is an acute awareness that small and medium businesses need to be a high area of focus,” Livanidis says.

“It is clearly important to create policies which strengthen Australia’s digital future while enabling the adoption of robust technologies.”

SMEs that lack the inhouse resources to manage cyber risks effectively are often under the misconception that addressing cybersecurity is deeply technical. To address this, Livanidis says there is an immediate need to simplify the way cybersecurity is spoken about, to make robust cybersecurity more accessible and achievable.

“The challenges posed by cybersecurity can seem overwhelming to SMEs, especially when they’re trying to understand where to focus their efforts in order to best mitigate the risks,” Livanidis says.

“They need both right-sized solutions, along with right-sized policies and advice to ensure that they can thrive in the digital economy.”

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