Australian companies recover faster from cyberattacks after tougher regulation study
Australian and New Zealand companies are showing significant improvement in recovering from cyberattacks. A recent survey reveals that the average recovery time has dropped from 45 days to 28 days over the past year. Despite this progress, the region still trails the global average recovery time of 24 days.
Martin Creighan, Asia-Pacific vice president at data protection firm Commvault, explains,
“I do put that down to the fact that organisations and enterprises are getting more aware.”
“I also put it down to the fact that the regulators are being more stringent and more strict on what their requirements are.”
This improvement follows high-profile cyber breaches at Optus and Medibank in 2022, which led to the introduction of mandatory breach disclosures and tighter cybersecurity compliance rules.
Ongoing Challenges Despite Progress
While recovery times have improved, challenges remain. Less than one-third of companies feel prepared to effectively respond to cyberattacks, and 12% have no formal response plan. Additionally, over half of surveyed businesses lack full visibility of their data storage and system connections.
Creighan notes the growing importance of cybersecurity beyond IT departments: “I have seen a rise in requests to brief boards on cyber resilience because they’re worried about the regulation landscape.”
Australia’s cybercrime agency reported an 8% drop in the average cost of cybercrime per business in the year ending June 2024, with large firms seeing an 11% decline. Despite this positive trend, experts say companies must continue improving to stay ahead of evolving threats.
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