According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre, on average 164 cybercrime reports are made by Australians every single day.
This is a stark reminder of the real threat that exists, and the question business leaders need to ask themselves is, are we really prepared?
Imagine this. It’s early in the morning and you receive a call from your CIO telling you the core IT systems are down, and they are looking into it.
Before you can fully process what is happening a journalist is calling your phone seeking comment on your business’s position on the leaking of all of your customers confidential data to the internet.
Your heart is racing and your palms are sweaty as you try to think about how you respond.
Your first thought might be to contact your staff and alert them, but how do you do that with your email system down?
What about your customers? What about your suppliers? How do you ensure they are made aware as soon as possible? Where do you turn to for help?
What are the companies legal obligations to inform the relevant authorities? Do you inform the police and if so what department do you call?
What do we say publicly? What about our reputation?
You speak to your CIO about restoring company systems ASAP but that’s been compromised too.
This is not a doomsday scenario; this is the reality for thousands of Australian businesses every year who find themselves on the wrong side of cyber security breach.
This is a horrible situation for people to go through.
Whether we like it or not, hackers are not slowing down, they are evolving, and you need to be prepared.
Our advice is simple.
You need to speak to the experts and develop your cyber response plan.
Perform a cyber security gap analysis, put the right tools in place, build process and procedures, know what you are going to say to the media, and ensure your company is resilient and better protected against this growing threat with a templated response plan.
Only then will you be really prepared to react if something goes wrong.