Ransomware and Cyber Extortion

Executive Summary

Australian and New Zealand organisations face growing risks from cyber extortion, including ransomware.

In our engagement with boards and senior executives across industry and government in Australia and New Zealand, we are consistently told that the growing threat of ransomware and cyber extortion is one of the most significant risks facing our organisations. Governments and cyber security experts around the world, including Australian Government officials, are warning that these attacks have reached “pandemic” proportions.

This is no surprise: cyber extortion is a highly lucrative enterprise for cybercriminals.

In the first half of 2021, governments across the world have grappled with how to put pressure back on cybercriminals. While cybercriminals still maintain a winning lead in this ongoing race, law enforcement agencies, particularly in the United States and Europe, have also stepped up their approach, with some notable recent disruption operations.

However, cybercriminals are resilient and innovative. As governments and police take action, criminals restructure their organisations and adapt their tactics, finding new ways to increase the impact of their attacks and also increase the pressure on victim organisations to pay up.

Every organisation needs a strategy for preventing and responding to ransomware and cyber extortion.

Government and law enforcement can certainly do more to address this chronic cybercrime issue, however the private sector also has a role to play. All organisations can take more effective steps to prevent these attacks and minimise the damage when they occur. That’s where this CyberCX Best Practice Guide can help.

This Guide provides practical tools for people at all levels of an organisation to understand and manage the risk posed by ransomware and cyber extortion.