Australian firms faces $37B in annual cyber losses by 2030

Australian businesses are confronting a significant increase in cyber risks, with AI-powered attacks projected to cause annual losses of up to $37 billion by 2030. This projection stems from a report highlighting the growing sophistication and frequency of cyber threats, according to coverage from Arn Net.

The report, conducted by Mandala Partners for CyberCX, forecasts a nine-fold increase in cyber incidents in Australia, rising from 38,000 in 2025 to 357,000 by 2030. This surge is attributed to advancements in AI capabilities used by threat actors, which are also expected to increase the severity of cyber loss incidents by 16%. Business interruptions, primarily due to ransomware and denial-of-service attacks, are anticipated to account for nearly half of these losses.

However, the report emphasizes that these figures are based on a "do nothing" scenario. Implementing foundational security measures such as multi-factor authentication, identity and access management, and patching vulnerabilities could reduce projected annual losses to $13 billion by 2030. Current Australian IT security spending, at 4.4% of IT budgets, trails the global industry standard of 7-10%, indicating a critical need for increased investment and proactive defense strategies.

Source: Arn Net