Australia's public sector vulnerable to attacks

New research has revealed critical cybersecurity gaps in Australia’s public sector. According to a global survey of cybersecurity professionals, including 1000 from Australia, 41% of public sector respondents recognise that their employers have blind spots in their protection today, leaving them vulnerable to attacks.

The research from cybersecurity company Trellix showed that, faced with a fast-evolving threat landscape, only 18% of respondents feel they can successfully anticipate new threats with the threat intelligence they currently receive. This is coupled with the fact that 59% of respondents agree that they feel like they’re losing the battle against cybercriminals.

The survey additionally revealed that public sector organisations face an average of 49.73 cybersecurity incidents daily, taking an average of 19.13 hours to report a significant cyber attack to the board. 58% of respondents agree that security threats are evolving so rapidly that they’re struggling to keep up.

Despite these concerning statistics, the survey did reveal some positive trends, with 61% of respondents reporting that they have increased investment in cybersecurity over the last 12 months.

“The public sector holds some of the most critical data to Australian citizens and, as a high target for cybercriminals, the readiness to deal with malicious activity must be improved to protect everyday Australians from the fallout,” said Luke Power, Managing Director, ANZ at Trellix.

“It’s clear from our research that cybersecurity professionals feel their current security tools and models are failing to provide adequate protection against cyber threats. We need to move beyond siloed security models and towards a more integrated and adaptable approach, with the adoption of extended detection and response (XDR) technology playing a crucial role in achieving this goal.”

“With cybercriminals becoming more sophisticated and the threat landscape constantly evolving, further advancing cybersecurity technologies is imperative for the public sector to stay one step ahead,” Power said.

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