Australia under attack as higher cyber threat activity observed: report

Cybersecurity company Armis says that Australian organisations are on guard as the imminent threat of cyberwarfare looms. The company’s third annual global report, ‘Warfare Without Borders: AI’s Role in The New Age of Cyberwarfare’, shows geopolitical tensions and AI advancements have increased the threat of cyberwarfare for organisations and governments worldwide in the past year.

“AI is enabling nation-state actors to stealthily evolve their tactics to commit acts of cyberwarfare at any given moment,” said Nadir Izrael, CTO and co-founder of Armis. “At the same time, threats are emerging at overwhelming rates from smaller nations and non-state actors leveraging AI to elevate to near-peer cyber threats. It is imperative that cybersecurity leaders shift their programs to enable them to stop cyber attacks capable of crippling their operations before there’s any impact to their organisation.”

According to the report, 56% of respondents from Australia — higher than the global average (43%) — believe the threat is imminent, disclosing that they have already had to report an act of cyberwarfare. 79% of Australian IT leaders believe that global geopolitical tensions are only worsening the threat. In fact, over half (51%) have experienced more threat activity on their network in the past six months, a figure higher than their peers in France, the UK, Italy, the US and Germany.

"Cyberwarfare is top of mind for Australians, with 92% concerned about the impact on their organisation as a whole, more so than any other country surveyed,” said Zak Menegazzi, Cybersecurity Specialist, ANZ at Armis. “While the data suggests that more are adopting a proactive cybersecurity posture and harnessing technology, it is important to remember that this is the baseline in the face of the elevated threat landscape at play.

“With the federal election taking place soon, Australian organisations must adopt holistic security strategies that identify and prioritise risk across the entire digital ecosystem, while strengthening security teams with AI-powered technology so they are ever-ready to defend.”

Almost three-quarters of Australian businesses (74%) believe that AI-powered attacks pose a significant threat to their organisation’s security. Additionally, 71% of respondents from Australia agree that GenAI is challenging the geopolitical status quo, enabling smaller nations to emerge as near-peer cyber threats. The attack sources feared most are APT groups (82%), while the top three dominant state-sponsored threats were identified as China (69%), Russia (66%) and North Korea (36%).

Australian organisations are waking up to the new, expanded realm of threats. 72% of respondents say they are reconsidering suppliers and increasing cybersecurity investments as a result of geopolitical tensions. A majority (81%) of Australian organisations are shifting to a more proactive cybersecurity posture and prioritising prevention as their top organisational goal. While this trend is largely positive, over half of Australian IT decision-makers say their organisation lacks the necessary expertise (57%) and budget (56%) to implement and manage AI-powered security solutions, indicating that further support and financing are needed to effectively address these threats.

Given this, there is broad recognition that a collaborative approach will strengthen defence against threat actors. 81% of Australian respondents say their organisation collaborates with others in the industry when it comes to sharing information about threats. Organisations with a dynamic shared approach can stay ahead of adversaries collectively, reducing the window of opportunity for potential attacks and improving communication channels, shared intelligence, and coordinated responses to cyber threats.

The report is based on a study of over 1800 global IT decision-makers in the US, UK, Italy, France, Australia and Germany and proprietary data from Armis Labs.

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