Notifiable data breaches fall 16% in 1H23


By Dylan Bushell-Embling
Thursday, 07 September, 2023

Notifiable data breaches fall 16% in 1H23

The number of notifiable data breaches reported to the Office of the Information Commissioner (OAIC) declined by 16% in the six months to June 2023, but the period also saw the first disclosed data breach affecting more than 10 million Australians.

According to the OAIC’s latest Notifiable Data Breaches report, cybersecurity incidents were the source of 42% of all breaches during the period, or 172 notifications. The top attack vectors were ransomware (53), misuse of compromised or stolen credentials (50) and phishing (33).

Malicious or criminal attacks were attributed to 70% of data breaches during the period, with human error accounting for 26% and system faults for the remaining 4%. The top causes of human error breaches involved sending personal information to the wrong recipient (46%), unauthorised disclosure or publication of personal data (18%) and the loss of paperwork or a data storage device (9%).

The top sectors to notify data breaches during the period included health service providers (63), the finance sector (54), recruitment agencies (33), legal, accounting and management services (26) and insurance (25).

Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk said the report demonstrates the need for Australian businesses to practise ongoing vigilance in data protection measures.

“As the guardians of Australians’ personal information, organisations must have the security measures required to minimise the risk of a data breach,” she said.

“In the event of an incident such as a cyber attack, organisations must also be able to adequately assess whether a data breach has occurred, how it has occurred and what information has been affected.”

Image credit: iStock.com/JuSun

Related News

ISACA identifies gaps in AI knowledge, training and policies

85% of digital trust professionals say they will need to increase their AI skills and knowledge...

VNC accounts for nearly all remote desktop attacks

Virtual Network Computing accounted for 98% of remote desktop attacks recorded by Barracuda last...

Vectra AI expands platform to combat GenAI threats

Vectra AI has announced new enhancements to its AI-driven platform aimed at protecting businesses...


  • All content Copyright © 2024 Westwick-Farrow Pty Ltd