69% of Australian Organisations Expect to Experience a Breach of Customer Records in the Next Year

Trend Micro Cyber Risk Index shows organisations are at an elevated risk of attack

SYDNEY, August 4, 2021 – Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global cybersecurity leader, today revealed that the risk of cyber attacks has increased in the last year. According to a new survey, 69% of Australian organisations report they are likely to experience a data breach that impacts customer data in the next 12 months. 

The findings come from Trend Micro’s biannual Cyber Risk Index (CRI) report, which measures the gap between respondents’ cybersecurity preparedness versus their likelihood of being attacked.

The CRI is based on a numerical scale of -10 to 10, with -10 representing the highest level of risk. The current global index stands at -0.42, a slight increase on last year which indicates an “elevated” risk. Australia’s global index is currently -0.89, indicating a more elevated risk compared to the global figure.

“Once again we’ve found plenty to keep CISOs awake at night, from operational and infrastructure risks to data protection, threat activity and human-shaped challenges,” said Dr. Jon Oliver, Director & Data Scientist, Trend Micro. “To lower cyber risk, organisations must be better prepared by going back to basics, identifying the critical data most at risk, focusing on the threats that matter most to their business, and delivering multi-layered protection from comprehensive, connected platforms.”

Organisations in Asia-Pacific ranked the top three negative consequences of an attack as critical infrastructure damage and disruption, lost IP and cost of outside consultants/experts brought in to help mitigate the damage.

Key Australian findings from the report include:

“Trend Micro’s CRI continues to be a helpful tool to help companies better understand their cyber risk,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, CEO for the Ponemon Institute. “Businesses globally can use this resource to prioritise their security strategy and focus their resources to best manage their cyber risk. This type of resource is increasingly useful as harmful security incidents continue to be a challenge for businesses of all sizes and industries.”

Among the top two infrastructure risks was cloud computing. Many respondents admitted they spend “considerable resources” managing third party risks like cloud providers.

The top cyber risks in Asia-Pacific highlighted in the report were as follows:

The top security risks to infrastructure in Asia-Pacific include malicious insiders, as well as well as cloud computing infrastructure and providers and organisational misalignment and complexity.

The main challenges for cybersecurity preparedness include limitations for security leaders who lack the authority and resources to achieve a strong security posture, as well as organisations struggling to enable security technologies that are sufficient to protect their data assets and IT infrastructure.

The CRI surveyed more than 3,600 businesses of all sizes and industries across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, in the first half of 2021.

Read a full copy of the report, produced by the Ponemon Institute, here: https://www.trendmicro.com/cyberrisk.

 

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity leader, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Fuelled by decades of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro's cybersecurity platform protects hundreds of thousands of organisations and millions of individuals across clouds, networks, devices, and endpoints. As a leader in cloud and enterprise cybersecurity, the platform delivers a powerful range of advanced threat defence techniques optimised for environments like AWS, Microsoft, and Google, and central visibility for better, faster detection and response. With 7,000 employees across 65 countries, Trend Micro enables organisations to simplify and secure their connected world. http://www.trendmicro.com.au/

Media Contact:
Jacqui Cowell
jacqui.cowell@archetype.co