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October marks Cyber Security Awareness Month, with technology advancements making firms more wary of risks than ever before.
As per the Australian government’s Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024–25, it was found that large businesses reported an average cyber crime cost of $202,700 per report, which was up 219 per cent on the year prior.
The focus on cyber security comes during Cyber Security Action Month, which occurs every October in Australia.
During the month, the Honourable Victor Dominello, a former NSW minister for customer service and digital government, highlighted why digital ID could lower identity fraud risk in conveyancing.
Australia’s focus on cyber security is becoming more prevalent, particularly within law firms.
As cyber criminals become more sophisticated, experts have warned that Australian law firms are now faced with an unprecedented level of cyber risk, with many lacking the specialised tools and expertise that are required to defend themselves.
Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre’s 2024-25 report revealed that more than 84,700 cyber crime reports were made, which was equivalent to one every six minutes.
Further, the Australian Cyber Security Hotline received more than 42,500 calls, which was up more than 16 per cent on the previous period.
The steps to mitigate cyber security threats
On the back of this alarming backdrop surrounding cyber security, NAB’s head of security culture and advisory, Laura Hartley, highlighted the threats being faced by Australian businesses, along with the practical steps they can take to bolster their resilience to potential threats.
“Professional services businesses are built on trust, but in today’s environment that trust is increasingly under pressure from a cyber threat landscape that continues to grow in size, speed and sophistication,” Hartley said.
“Firms such as accountants, advisers and lawyers are attractive targets because they hold sensitive information and often facilitate financial transactions.
“We’re seeing many of the most common attacks become more effective because they target people rather than technology, with business email compromise, phishing, ransomware and social engineering among the biggest threats facing Australian businesses.”
With the inevitability of artificial intelligence, the ability to conduct cyber security attacks has become easier than ever before.
“Artificial intelligence is also changing the cyber threat landscape; we’re seeing more convincing phishing emails and scams, while emerging risks like deepfakes have the potential to make fraudulent payment requests appear increasingly legitimate,” Hartley said.
“While cyber threats continue to evolve, many successful attacks still rely on organisations overlooking the fundamentals.
“Simple measures – enabling multifactor authentication, maintaining strong password practices, regularly patching systems and training employees to identify suspicious messages – can significantly reduce risk.
“Having robust processes to independently verify requests for payment or changes to account details is also absolutely critical.”
Lawyers: ‘Trust nothing, verify everything’
Talking to Jerome Doraisamy on a recent Lawyers Weekly podcast, InfoTrack CEO John Ahern discussed the current nature of cyber security, unpacking how much the risk and compliance landscape is shifting, and the importance of having humans in decision-making processes.
“We really need to accelerate what we’re doing within our firms to be careful to protect ourselves from these attacks,” Ahern said.
“Clearly, everything’s accelerating in the world, and the tools that people have access to now, the level of vigilance needs to go up dramatically.
“Creating an environment where you can talk about these types of things openly is very important without fear of judgement.
“And cyber security awareness training, formal or informal, is definitely number one [for importance].”
With businesses leaning on AI to conduct tasks that are deemed as mundane and routine-based, Ahern accentuated the importance of humans double-checking the work being done.
“At the end of the day, the humans checking the content is really important, and when it comes back to cyber security, humans are the thing.
“We are the one[s] providing the instruction, we’re the ones checking the details in and out, and the number one thing you can do to protect the information flow, especially around transactions between you and your client, is just have a 30-second phone call,” he said.
The key theme of this year’s Cyber Security Awareness Month globally is “Don’t make it easy for them”, with Australia’s theme being “Take a second. Stay secure”.
