EDITOR ’ S QUESTION

The report aims to shed light on how Australian organizations are adjusting to modern security challenges , safeguarding sensitive data and mitigating risk from ransomware and insider threats . The report also offers insight into what businesses can do to minimize their risk .

For the inaugural study , Varonis analyzed 515 responses from C-level executives and senior managers in decision-making roles . Surveyed companies including small to large businesses across industries that include IT and telecom , financial services , government , manufacturing , professional services , education and healthcare .

Key findings from the 2021 Australian Cybersecurity Risk Report include :

Scott Leach , Vice President of Sales , APAC , at Varonis , said : “ Four in five respondents are confident they can defend against an attack – a surprising statistic in light of today ’ s evolving threats and big ransomware payouts . Executives and board members must put their data first and proactively turn to cyber-resilience – preventing breaches by limiting an organization ’ s ‘ blast radius ’ – the potential damage a compromised user or account could do during an attack .”

• 82 % of Australian organizations rated their ability to protect themselves from a cyberattack as good or very good

• Almost two-thirds ( 63 %) think a potential cyberattack on their organization is likely or very likely in the next 12 months

• Organizations listed data loss or theft as the biggest cybersecurity concern ( 53 %), followed closely by human error ( 40 %) and insider threats ( 37 %)

• Loss of brand reputation was rated the top overall concern by 29 % of organizations , followed by loss of intellectual property ( 24 %) and costs associated with a cybersecurity breach ( 18 %)

• Nearly three-quarters ( 71 %) of organizations store sensitive information in Microsoft 365

According to the report : “ The high value of sensitive data , combined with the lack of knowledge over where this data is located and who has access to it , makes organizations prize targets for threat actors .”

Varonis recommends organizations take the following proactive steps to improve their security :

• Develop , implement and enforce data management and data access policies

• Provide cybersecurity education for staff to avoid falling victim to phishing and spearphishing attacks

• Focus on reducing the damage attackers can do by limiting your blast radius – the damage attackers can do once inside your environment

32 INTELLIGENTCIO APAC www . intelligentcio . com