Over 59,000 cybercrimes were reported in Australia in one year (2019 – 2020), at an average of 165 reports per day or even more shockingly one report every 10 minutes¹. With these statistics, it’s no surprise that Australia takes the title of sixth most hacked country in the world².

Heavy hitters such as Channel Nine, Brisbane hospitals, the Wesley and St Andrews War Memorial, and JBS Foods have all been targets in the last six months. With the latter having to pay $14.2 million in ransom to cease the five-day cyber-attack.

If these high-profile organisations are at risk, then nobody is exempt from attacks. When it comes to cybercrime and business, the ‘it won’t happen to me’ mentality is a dangerous one.

In response to the cyberattacks, Australian businesses forked out a massive $5.6 billion on cybersecurity from local and international providers, a figure that is estimated to increase to $7.6 billion by 2024³. Evidence that cybersecurity plays a pivotal role in avoiding these current and forthcoming breaches.

In response to this increased threat, savvy businesses are now investing in the rising trend of ethical hacking, also known as penetration testing, it is the legal hacking of an organisation’s defences. Essentially, businesses are paying staff to try and hack into their systems to find current or potential holes, so that they can then go back in and patch them up.

Nityanand Thakur, Ethical Hacking Expert at Koenig Solutions, educates companies and employees on best practise in ethical hacking and urges those who have not thought of protecting data through this method to do so.

“Hacking has earned itself negative connotations within the media, understandably so. This can make it hard for businesses to get their head around the idea of it being done ethically. But it affects everyone from individuals to businesses to government organisations.

“With cybersecurity, it’s better to learn from other businesses’ mistakes of not being prepared. It’s so important to do everything possible to protect data against cyberattacks. It’s daunting just how many Australian businesses have fallen victim to cyberattacks in the last year. Usually, it’s something as little as having an information security analyst to educate wider staff about what spam and viruses may look like or how to use one to five factor authentication.”

Research estimates that job creation in cybersecurity will increase in the coming years, with an expected 7,000 more positions to be added to Australia’s economy by 2024³.

“The increase in demand for ethical hackers, means that there will need to be enough suitable applicants locally to ensure that those roles aren’t offloaded overseas. At Koenig, we are passionate about ensuring that Aussies are qualified and ready to enter the cybersecurity sector,” says Nityanand.

To help Australian organisations harness this critical skill, Koenig Solutions is offering an EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacking preparation online course so businesses can start the journey to protecting their data against cyberattacks and avoid becoming another statistic.

^1. https://www.cyber.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-09/ACSC-Annual-Cyber-Threat-Report-2019-20.pdf

^2. https://specopssoft.com/blog/countries-experiencing-significant-cyber-attacks/

^3. https://www.austcyber.com/resources/sector-competitiveness-plan