Findings show that 89% of Australian IT professionals surveyed have dealt with security incidents originating from deceptive emails, yet nearly half feel unprepared to respond to such threats.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – November 21, 2017 – Today PhishMe®, the leading provider of human phishing defence solutions, released the results of its Australia Phishing Response Trends Report, which looked at the phishing response strategies of IT security professionals across a variety of industries in the Australia region.
The report highlights that despite technology investments, Australian-based organisations are flooded with suspicious emails targeting employees. 85% of respondents confirmed to be utilising computer-based training solutions and 66% email gateway filtering to protect against phishing attacks. Yet, nearly half surveyed organisations feel ill-prepared to process and adequately respond to such threats, with the majority highlighting the need for automated phishing analysis.
According to the Ponemon Institute, malicious or criminal attacks account for 48% of data breaches in Australia, with the number of yearly attacks averaging 18,000. In line with phishing response trends emerging from the US and the UK markets, Australian-based organisations claimed to be almost as unprepared to combat phishing attacks despite having dealt with more email-related incidents.
Key findings from the survey include:
- 89% have dealt with security incidents originating with a deceptive email
- More than 60% have faced an email threat more than once
- Over a third of respondents see more than 500 suspicious emails weekly
- Nearly all respondents have between one and four security layers already in place
- Email-related threats are Australia’s biggest security concern
- Over 50% of respondents highlighted technology alone isn’t the answer to phishing
- 95% of surveyed IT professionals plan to upgrade their phishing response and prevention
“The pervasiveness and sophistication of recent phishing attacks is a testament of how technology alone is not enough to defend against email-based threats,” stated Rohyt Belani, CEO and Co-Founder of PhishMe. “Just as we’ve see scammers leveraged sentiments of fear and curiosity to steal sensitive patient records from Australian medical organisations, modern cyberattacks are crafted based on specific emotional triggers. With computers still unable to detect human emotions and the nuances of interpersonal communication, it is imperative for any organisation to embrace a human-focused approach towards improving cyber resilience.”
The full report is available for download here: https://cofense.com/phishing-response-trends-australia
To learn more about PhishMe’s phishing incident solutions, please visit: cofense.staging.wpengine.com
Survey Methodology
This study was commissioned by PhishMe and delivered by Censuswide, an international market survey consultant. Censuswide surveyed one hundred select IT professionals, largely senior decision-makers, on phishing response strategies. The sample represented firms belonging to a variety of industries including business services, high tech, manufacturing, healthcare, financial, retail & wholesale trades, transportation, consumer services and telecommunications. All participants joined voluntarily and no telemarketing techniques were implemented.
About PhishMe
PhishMe is the leading provider of human-focused phishing defence solutions for organisations concerned about their susceptibility to today’s top attack vector — spear phishing. PhishMe’s intelligence-driven platform turns employees into an active line of defence by enabling them to identify, report and mitigate spear phishing, malware and drive-by threats. Our open approach ensures that PhishMe integrates easily into the security technology stack, demonstrating measurable results to help inform an organisation’s security decision-making process. PhishMe’s customers include the defence industrial base, energy, financial services, healthcare and manufacturing industries, as well as other Global 1000 entities that understand how changing user security behaviour will improve security, aid incident response and reduce the risk of compromise.
Contact Details
Nick Lagalante
Global Corporate Communications, PhishMe
+1-571-393-2403
Source: Ponemon Institute’s 2017 Cost of Data Breach Study: Global Overview (https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?htmlfid=SEL03130WWEN)
