PwC: Cybercrime activity ramps up

For Australian businesses of all sizes, the threat of cybercrime is real and an issue that has to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

According to data recently released in the Global State of Information Security Survey 2015 published by PricewaterhouseCoopers and CIO/CSO Magazines, more emphasis is required by all organisations.

In the past year, there have been more than 42.8 million reported security incidents globally – close to 118,000 attacks per day. In fact, security incidents have increased 66 per cent year on year since 2009.

With cybercriminals finding more sophisticated and silent ways into business data and information, it is easy to understand why the associated costs of managing and preventing breaches was also increasing.

However, PwC are concerned with the lack of response from businesses worldwide. Global information security budgets decreased 4 per cent and security spending hasn't increased past 4 per cent in the past five years.

Mark Lobel, PwC advisory principal focused on information security, explained it was important for organisations to secure their basic functions such as payroll, client information and banking data.

"Strategic security spending demands that businesses identify and invest in cybersecurity practices that are most relevant to today's advanced attacks," he said.

"It's critical to fund processes that fully integrate predictive, preventive, detective and incident-response capabilities to minimise the impact of these incidents."

Based on the survey's results, the estimated reported average financial loss from a cyberattack was $2.7 million – up 34 per cent on last year. In fact, more larger organisations are losing in excess of $20 million from a single data breach.

As larger businesses invest more in security systems and monitoring, it will be the mid-to-small organisations that will become the main target. This increases the importance of all companies becoming wise to the threats that exist outside their four walls.