Fifteen Information Security Officers and Risk Officers from leading financial institutions and government bodies met in Melbourne yesterday, discussing the current risk and cyber climate, in light of the recent surge in high-profile data breaches.
Accenture’s Growth Markets Cyber Resilience Lead, Mark Sayer, led the forum, with a key focus on delivering timely and transparent public communications, meticulously reviewing company’s infrastructure and controls, and working backwards from a position of ‘assumed compromise’.
The threat posed by domestic and foreign actors has been a hot topic of late, with research confirming Australia is experiencing a definite spike in crime.
The Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee’s Annual 2022 report revealed that in the 2021 calendar year, Australia ranked fourth in the top 10 countries based on cybercrime victims per capita, behind only the United Kingdom, United States and Canada.
The Australian Cyber Security Centre’s Annual Cyber Threat Report, July 2021 to 2022 also reported cybercrime is up nearly 13 per cent from the previous financial year.
And unfortunately, this is likely to continue, with Sayers explaining that the spate of attacks which have received significant media attention has the potential to inspire similar attempts.
Ransomware, a method of attack which sees the actor threaten to publish the victim’s personal data or permanently block access to it unless a sum is paid, was also covered in the session – Home Affairs Minister and Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil confirmed that the government is examining if new laws are required to prevent any such payments being made.
PEXA’s Chief Risk Officer, Greg Evans, said: “We have seen organisations forced to navigate difficult situations in recent months, which has definitely brought cyber risk and data breaches to the forefront of public discussion. Ultimately, organisations are on a continuous journey to bolster their infrastructure and innovate their response protocols.”
“All organisations are working to ensure their customers are protected. Events like today, facilitated by PEXA, are designed to help us knowledge-share across the digital conveyancing ecosystem, with a view to collectively raising the bar for all participants. Every big event is analysed in-depth by organisations – we’re all working to reflect on what’s happened, what we can take from these scenarios and how we can continue to enhance our processes.”
PEXA is Australia’s online property exchange network. It assists members – such as lawyers, conveyancers and financial institutions – to lodge documents with Land Registries and complete financial settlements electronically. Ensuring safe, efficient and secure property transactions for Australian home buyers, sellers and refinancers is of the highest importance.
