Cyber security concerns

Australian businesses are underprepared for serious data breaches due to a lack of investment and awareness of cyber security, EY's latest global information security report has found.

The report, which asks Australian and New Zealand companies to rank risks relating to cyber security, found that careless employee behaviour was considered the highest area of cybersecurity concern.

Similarly, 88 per cent of Australian respondents said they would not be able to detect a sophisticated cyber attack.

EY cyber security leader Richard Watson said the survey highlighted a lack of awareness from businesses.

“The largest area of risk for any corporate is strategic shifts, which often result in the addition of new technologies, increasing the cyber risk profile of an organisation,” he said

“Only 8 per cent of Australian respondents indicated that they were considering cyber risk in the development of their strategic plans, leaving them flying blind.

“This is compounded by a lack of cyber investment by companies in Australia and New Zealand, with one in three organisations either maintaining or decreasing their cyber security budget. 

The report found that half of the businesses believe they need a budget increase of between 50 and 100 per cent to be better prepared for a cyber attack, while 25 per cent believe they need a budget increase of over 100 per cent to do so.