Reported ransomware, email compromise cybercrime up over 2020/2021

A second annual review of cybercrime has been published by the federal government, with a 13 per cent increase in reported incidents as more Australians worked from home.

There was a 15 per cent increase in ransomware-related crime over the last financial year, with this “one of the most serious cyber threats” identified, due to its potential for disruption. 

The second ACSC Annual Cyber Threat Report was jointly compiled by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, and released by assistant minister for defence Andrew Hastie on Wednesday.

Of the total 67,500 incidents logged over the financial year, critical infrastructure was most frequently hit, followed by healthcare, “right at a time when Australians are most reliant on our health workers to help us respond and recover through the pandemic,” said Hastie.

There were 4,600 reports of businesses email compromise — about 7 per cent of the total and in the top five cybercrime categories — with an average reported loss of approximately $50,600 (an increase of 54 per cent versus the previous financial year.)

The report can be read here.

Picture: Massimo Botturi/Unsplash, CC BY-SA

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