In 2024, an Australian user experienced a cyber strike every second, representing a remarkable twelvefold surge from the prior year. This sharp escalation contributed to a worldwide cybersecurity emergency, where 5.6 billion accounts were compromised globally, translating to 176 breaches per second, as per Surfshark.
The global cumulative indicates an almost eightfold escalation from 2023 when just 23 accounts were infringed per second.
Australia’s data breach outbreak
In the recent year, Australia noted 47 million data penetrations, a jump from 2023’s 4.1 million, positioning it as the eleventh most impacted nation globally, reported by Surfshark. In per capita terms, 1,785 Australian profiles were invaded per 1,000 residents, largely exceeding New Zealand’s 779 per 1,000.
Analyzed attack data from 29,000 openly accessible databases was utilized by Surfshark, a cybersecurity entity, to compile its 2024 data breach overview.
EXPLORE: Heightened Phishing Emails in Australia by 30%
“Globally, the average number of intruded accounts per 100 people is 285,” stated Emilija Kucinskaite, senior researcher at Surfshark, in a press release. “However, in Australia, this figure rises to 732 per 100 individuals. Statistically speaking, an average Australian has been subject to data infractions approximately 7 times.”
A cumulative of 554.5 million personal records associated with Australians have been uncovered since 2004, consisting of email addresses, passcodes, contact numbers, bank card data, IP addresses, and other confidential details. Each email ID was violated with an average of three more pieces of delicate information.
Undoubtedly, over the previous decade, 192.5 million Australian user profiles have been breached across diverse platforms, with 106.9 million of these linked with passcodes. This put 56% of jeopardized users at risk of account hijacking, potentially leading to theft of identity, extortion, and other cyber offenses. The revealed accounts also comprised 49 million singular Australian email IDs.
A costly and burgeoning threat
In Australia, the mean cost of a data penetration surged to a new peak of AUD $4.26 million (USD $2.77 million) in 2024, representing a 27% rise since 2020. This progression is ascribed to:
- Increased phishing assaults
- Lengthier detection durations for breaches
- Escalating scarcities in cybersecurity proficiency
- The enhanced complexity of cyber risks
Additionally, it was revealed by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner that the partaking of reportable data breaches in the first half of 2024 (527) was 9% higher compared to the corresponding span in 2023 and marked the greatest tally since 2020.
Significant cyber assaults that struck Australia
Several high-profile infractions contributed to the historic counts. In April, MediSecure, an e-prescriptions provider, was subjected to a ransomware assault jeopardizing the personal and healthcare data of about 12.9 million Australians.
LEARN: National Public Data Infringement: 134 Million Unique Emails Leaked
February witnessed approx. 122 million individuals affected by a data seepage at B2B demand generation company DemandScience, which, as per Surfshark, encompassed 1.2 million Australians. Subsequently, in May, IT provider Outabox underwent a violation impacting almost one million customers of clubs in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
The mega aggregation of passwords to be disseminated online was uncovered last year, entailing 9,948,575,739 unique unencrypted entries. These credentials were identified in a document labeled “rockyou2024.txt” that was uploaded on a renowned hacking forum on July 4, 2024.
Cybersecurity in 2024: an expanding battleground
The elevating menace of cyber assaults is not geographically restricted to Australia, with hackers encountering lower barriers due to the accessibility of AI.
The top five nations tallying breach counts, from the highest to lowest, are China, Russia, the U.S., France, and Germany, with the foremost three countries accounting for 46% of the world’s data breaches.
Stakeholders alert that unless profound measures are taken, exposure to cyber hazards will only amplify in 2025.
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