A new survey reveals that Australian businesses are improving their cybersecurity infrastructure to defend against potential attacks.
A third of the respondents to software research site Capterra’s 2024 Data Security Survey have experienced security breaches in 2023, among them victims of the notable data breaches occurring at Optus and Medibank.
The report notes that 51 per cent of respondents expressed ‘alarm’ over the vulnerability of their businesses their employees to advanced email phishing attacks. Other security concerns raised include advanced ransomware attacks (37 per cent), AI-enhanced attacks (36 per cent), business email compromise (28 per cent), and software supply chain attacks (23 per cent).
In response to the progression of these threats, 58 per cent of Australian businesses reported an increase in IT security spending in 2023 compared to 2022. And 65 per cent have allocated part of their IT budget to AI-driven cybersecurity measures.
“The survey presents us an overall picture of cybersecurity’s increasing trend in Australia,” Laura Burgess, Research Analyst at Capterra commented. “The increase of investment in AI-driven solutions should come together with a growing consciousness to alleviate weak password practices.
“As cybersecurity threats continue, businesses are encouraged to adopt a multi-faceted approach,” Burgess added. “A combination of IT security investment, workforce education and strong security policies would help ensure an improved defence against these risks.”
Major factors influencing companies’ drive to invest more in AI-driven solutions include phishing and social engineering attacks, with 42 per cent saying that these specific threats as the main reasons in their decision-making process to improve their cybersecurity infrastructure.
Capterra also pointed out that while there is an increasing trend in cybersecurity technology adoption, weak password practices remain an issue, as 45 per cent admit that they use the same password for multiple software or accounts. Awareness through cybersecurity training is emphasised to comprehensively address this risk, but only 36 per cent have said that they raised security concerns with their IT department.
