Australians report cybercrime every six minutes, reveal authorities

Canberra(The Uttam Hindu): Australians reported a cybercrime to authorities every six minutes in the 12-month period to the end of June, according to the country's signals intelligence agency. The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) on Wednesday published the Annual Cyber Threat Report for 2023-24, revealing that cybercrime reports fell slightly from the previous year while financial losses for individuals impacted by cybercrimes increased, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the report, the ASD received 87,400 cybercrime reports in the 12-month period to the end of June 2024 -- the equivalent of one report every six minutes on average. The total number of cybercrimes reported to the ASD was seven per cent lower than in 2022-23. However, the average self-reported cost of cybercrime to individual victims increased to 30,700 Australian dollars ( ($20,082.7) - up 17 per cent from 2022-23. For businesses, the average self-reported cost of cybercrimes was down eight per cent. The report said that identity fraud, online shopping fraud and online banking fraud were the most common types of cybercrime affecting individuals.

Richard Marles, Australia's defence minister and deputy prime minister (PM), wrote in the report that the data reinforces the need for all Australians to play their part in protecting cyber security. "Reporting cybercrime, incidents and vulnerabilities remains a critical part of building a national threat picture and enabling us to effectively counter malicious cyber actors," he said. The ASD said that it responded to 1,100 cyber security incidents in 2023-24. Of those, almost half were categorised as unsuccessful low-level malicious attacks but 52 caused extensive compromise, including one that targeted the federal government, government services or critical infrastructure. It said that 11 per cent of those incidents targeted critical infrastructure.