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The previous year, the nation has fallen prey to several high-profile cybersecurity breaches, such as the Optus and Medibank incidents. Surfshark, a VPN service company, noted that Australia is the most frequently hacked country.
According to the research company, Australia had the highest data breach rates in Q4 of 2022. The country had 7,387 user accounts per 100,000 hacked. Russia was next on the list but only had 2,568 hacks per 100,000.
According to Surfshark lead researcher Agneska Sablovskaja, “Globally, data breaches have decreased by 70.8 per cent from October to November. In Australia, however, data breaches have surged by 1550 per cent, from 107,659 in October to 1,776,065 in November.”
Cybersecurity experts believe that the recent major cyber breaches experienced by Optus and Medibank proved that the country was an easy target. According to Dr Mohiuddin Ahmed, senior computing and security lecturer at Edith Cowan University, “International hackers are praying on Australia partly because of its wealth and partly because it has been rendered vulnerable by the COVID pandemic, cost-of-living pressures and natural disasters including floods.”
The government has started taking steps to minimise data breaches. Clare O’Neil, the Australian Minister for Cyber Security, built a 100-strong task force intending to make Australia a hostile environment for cyber criminals. The task force is dedicated to providing an offensive approach towards threat actors.
However, as cyber-attacks are expected to double in the next five years, the government expects the nation to need around 3,000 highly-skilled cyber security professionals by 2026. Dr Mamoun Alazab, associate professor of information technology at Charles Darwin University, said that the government needs to scale up its cybersecurity investment to keep up with the rapid growth of threat actors.
Dr Alazab also recommended how the country should have to exercise a collective effort towards enhancing cybersecurity. He suggests a robust public-private partnership and workforce education close the need for more skilled professionals.
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