Cyber and the C-suite in Australia

Global insights, uniquely Australian perspectives.

Around the world, digital transformation continues to drive business innovation, diversification and post-pandemic regeneration. We are more connected than ever before, which has fundamentally changed the way we work, the systems that underpin the everyday and the way we view security. Cybersecurity is now central to almost all organisational operations – it is the backbone of business. And while Australia too, has been swept up in the shift to digitisation, the way our CISOs and the C-suite view this rapid transformation is distinct, as this report shows.

There are two key factors we believe have contributed to these uniquely Australian perspectives.

The first is our geographical isolation, the world’s largest island nation and a near-neighbour of Asia. While a great strength, the COVID-19 pandemic showed that our isolation can create significant supply chain issues, the ramifications of which continue to be felt.

And second, over the past several years, Australia’s cyber-related legislative and regulatory landscape has evolved quickly. In particular, significant reforms to the critical infrastructure regime, which has seen the number of captured sectors expand from four to 11, has meant many organisations have had to fundamentally change the way they view cybersecurity, rebuilding from the ground up.

But the goalposts keep moving. Cyber is not static.

Rapid digitisation means cybersecurity has to be everyone’s business. It cannot be siloed within organisations, which needs to involve all parts of the business in getting cyber right. As we race towards a future that promises more connected systems and exponentially more data, we will face more strategic and sophisticated cyber adversaries.

With ever-expanding cyber risks, Australian business leaders have much more work to do. And the work has to be done in a tough economic environment where, more than ever before, consumers and shareholders demand cyber protections.

The findings from Australia’s 2023 Global Digital Trust Insights Survey clearly show where our nation’s C-suite have placed their cyber priorities, what their main concerns are and who bears responsibility for cyber across business functions.

It illustrates Australia’s strengths, Australia’s weaknesses and provides clear guideposts for the future – guideposts that will ultimately help our nation become more cyber secure.