Why Cyber, Why Now?

Why cyber, why now? I find this a question that is very easy to answer considering some of the major issues Australia has faced in the past 12 months. Optus, Medibank and now Latitude, our newsfeeds are filled with “breaches”. Seeing cyber issues like these so publicly discussed has raised the profile of the industry, the need to improve our security and expectations of Australians to feel protected in a cyber sense. I also believe the cyber industry used to be considered a “secret” and wasn’t a second thought for most people. Now however it’s fast becoming one of the most important industries within Australia (and globally) due to the changes in the cyber landscape and the progression of criminal activities using technology. 

The relevance of why cyber, why now, is broken into three areas: 

PEOPLE:   

The “PEOPLE” aspect of security is one I am very interested, curious and passionate about. From a pure need of skilled people, Australia is expecting to have over 30,000+ requirements in next four years according to CyberCX research. The key drivers behind these sorts of stats are from the surge in cybercrimes and the increase from business and government to improve and deliver more cyber focused pieces of work (project and operational focused). It’s also the number of roles for skilled professionals growing faster than the industry and country can produce the people to perform the roles. Some of these challenges will need a multi-dimensional approach to improve from all groups within the cyber industry and to do this will be a goliath push which, as of right now, I am not sure can be done as fast as needed.    

BUSINESS:

According to ACSC, there was a 14% increase of cybercrime against business in 20-21 compared to the previous fin year1. Most of these attacks were on SME businesses who either hadn’t, don’t know they needed to, or choose not to invest and improve their cyber resilience. This comes as a huge risk to every Australian as most of us will have and will continue to shop, purchase and spend with these businesses. The other area I see requiring improvement is within the government sector where most cyber attacks have occurred. The government sector made up 24% of all attacks compared to the next sector at 9%, meaning more than twice as many attacks are directed at the government. This is a concern considering that the government holds all of Australia’s critical information on people, business and defence. 

TECHNOLOGY:

Technology is the final area I believe has had the greatest impact on why cyber is now so important to us all. As tech advances, so does the criminal aspect. The problem is that, at times, the criminals are in front of the defence mechanisms in place and these days everyone uses technology, making it a lot easier to be attacked. According to Roy Morgan, in 2019 more than 18.5 million Australians owned a mobile phone (Ref:4). There is also data indicating the age of mobile phone users is lowering and increasing in the ages of 6-13 years of age with 46% of children in this group having a mobile phone (REF:5). With so many people having access to technology and the internet combined with the lack of cyber awareness and training for users, the result is a growth of cybercrime and issues associated with technology. 

Why cyber, why now? It’s been driven by the need for greater awareness, more skilled people and an improvement in the cyber industry. While there’s greater depth to explore in the three key areas that have driven the demand for a dedicated cyber specific recruitment agency, the overview outlines why it was time to launch e2 Cyber and what we are creating to ensure we are part of the solution.   

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