Security News

Australia is building a digital ID and information verification system called Trust Exchange, or TEx, that will see the Government verifying customer details for businesses via a smartphone app.

Cybersecurity professionals are experiencing high levels of stress, which can have both business and personal implications. Here’s how they can improve their mental health.

Australian gold mining firm Evolution Mining has announced on Monday that it became aware on 8 August 2024 of a ransomware attack impacting its IT systems, and has been working with its external cyber forensic experts to investigate the incident. "Based on work to date, the Company believes the incident is now contained," Evolution Mining said.

Evolution Mining has informed that it has been targeted by a ransomware attack on August 8, 2024, which impacted its IT systems. [...]

Secureworks CEO Wendy Thomas, who visited Australia in July 2024, told TechRepublic that the XDR offering was appealing to mid-market customers in Australia who may not have the budget or capabilities to build their own security operations centre but are concerned about the possibility of cyber attacks - especially after a number of large local breaches in the region. Thomas added that the future of cyber security in Australia and APAC could include more offensive operations from governments in cooperation with private-sector security providers to disrupt or take down threat actors.

Australian organisations have ranked fourth in an assessment of how widely enterprises in 16 countries are using and implementing generative AI. The survey, conducted by data analytics firm SAS, found that 63% of Australian businesses are now using generative AI. The findings, based on responses from 1,600 global AI and data analytics decision makers, found that Australian generative AI usage is ahead of the global average and that Australia is leading the pack when it comes to the deployment of generative AI-related policies. Which countries are fully implementing generative AI? Sixty-three percent of Australian organisations say they use generative AI. Australian enterprises sit behind China, the U.K. and the U.S., according to SAS, but are ahead of the global average, with 54% of enterprises worldwide using generative AI. Businesses in the APAC region as a whole, led by China, are among the world's most voracious adopters of AI. Although North America is ahead in overall usage of AI, APAC businesses are not far behind, with a total of 63% using it at some level within their organisations.

IBM recently released its annual Cost of a Data Breach report, revealing that the average cost of a data breach in Australia reached a record-high of AUD $4.26 million in 2024. Initial attack vectors: Phishing was the most common initial attack vector, accounting for 22% of breaches and costing businesses AUD $4.35 million per breach on average.

Australian organisations have reported the highest rate of data breaches compared with global markets in 2023, according to a new survey. The State of Data Security: Measuring Your Data's Risk report, based on a survey of 1,600 global IT and security leaders as well as telemetry data from 6,100 Rubrik customers, gauged the frequency of cyber incidents related to business email compromises, data breaches, ransomware attacks, insider incidents and inadvertent data exposure.

Reducing costs is the biggest priority for Australian SMEs. Due to increasing costs and higher interest rates in the Australian market, SME leaders were found to be seeking "Growth without additional cost," the report said, in an effort to drive productivity enhancements through technology optimisation rather than through more spending.

Two Russian-born Australian citizens have been arrested and charged in the country for spying on behalf of Russia as part of a "Complex" law enforcement operation codenamed BURGAZADA. This includes a 40-year-old woman, an Australian Defence Force Army Private, and her husband, a 62-year-old self-employed laborer. They have been charged with one count each of preparing for an espionage offense, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment.