The insights gleaned from Splunk's State of Security 2024 report have raised concerns about Australia's cybersecurity situation.
While being a global frontrunner in the adoption and policy creation of generative AI (GenAI), Australia seems to be grappling with a greater frequency of cyberattacks compared to other surveyed nations, this observation comes amidst increasing geopolitical tensions that many believe are fuelling cyber activity.
Despite Australian business leaders understanding the need for digital resilience, an overwhelming majority confess to not being privy to the full implications that GenAI could have on their organisation. Similarly, the major hindrance to improving cybersecurity measures in the region is reportedly the challenges encountered in staffing. Factors like disparate security tools, issues with visibility, and quick detection are, in part, held responsible for the high-frequency attacks.
According to the report, a staggering 56% of Australian respondents admit to being subjected to nation-state attacks compared to a global average of 39%. This trend continued for every type of discussed cyberattack, with Australia facing a higher-than-average rate. Within Australia, 44% of organisations strongly concur that geopolitical stress aggravates cyberattacks, a sentiment echoed by less than a third of global participants.
The report also highlighted that 72% of Australian organisations switch too frequently between disparate security tools, and 35% face visibility issues across the attack surface - factors that contribute to their problematic detection systems. On the positive front, Australia is leading in GenAI technology adoption and policy formulation with 69% of respondents reporting using public GenAI tools for their work, and 73% having established security policies for GenAI usage.
However, the lack of full comprehension of GenAI technology's implications among 65% of Australian business leaders points to a significant knowledge gap. The future does not look bright either. Almost 80% of Australian business heads agree that not enhancing digital resilience in the upcoming year would escalate the risk of losing customers due to service outages or downtime. A whopping 82% concur that such a scenario would severely disrupt their business operations.
The report points towards a worrying bifurcation among cybersecurity leaders over the advantage GenAI holds. There seems to be no clear consensus on whether it would benefit cybersecurity defenders or threat actors more. In the face of GenAI adoption, 34% of surveyed organisations reveal they have no GenAI policy in place, with 65% of respondents admitting to not fully understanding the implications of GenAI.
Patrick Coughlin, SVP, Global Technical Sales, Splunk voiced a similar sentiment: "We are in an AI gold rush, with bad actors and security professionals both trying to seize the advantage. The introduction of GenAI creates new opportunities for organisations to streamline processes, increase productivity, and limit staff burnout. Unfortunately, GenAI also presents unprecedented advantages for threat actors."
The State of Security 2024 report was published by Splunk in collaboration with the Enterprise Strategy Group. It tapped into the insights of 1,650 security leaders in a worldwide survey spanning nations such as Australia, France, Germany, India, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The participants represented 16 industries.
