Australian CISOs are under pressure and are expected to be at least globally prepared to deal with the consequences of a cyberattack. According to a Proofpoint survey, nearly 8 in 10 Australian Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) say their agencies are not ready to detect, prevent and recover cyber-attacks – the highest in 14 countries and have grown 21% since 2021.
In addition, compared to 48% of CISOs worldwide, 68% believe that their organization is at risk for material cyber attacks in the next 12 months. Nearly 76% of Australian CISOs consider human error to be their biggest cyber vulnerability, nowhere near the new challenges of work setups and employee turnover.
Proofpoint Asia-Pacific and resident CISO Yvette Legis The $ 9.9bn investment by the Australian government in cybersecurity readiness in Japan shows just how difficult it is for governments and corporations to increase their defenses.
“Yet our research shows that Australian CISOs around the world are far less prepared to deal with the consequences of cyber-attacks,” she said. “Not only that, Australian CISOs are under more pressure on their role than any other country.”
The Proofpoint survey surveyed more than 1,400 CISOs from industry and countries, including the US, Australia, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Singapore.
The survey explored three key areas: threat risk and the types of cyber-attacks that CISOs fight on a daily basis, the impact of employee and organizational readiness levels, and support for a hybrid workforce. It also revealed the challenges that CISOs face in their roles, their position in the C-Suite, and the business opportunities of their teams. In Australia, for example, 63% of CISOs felt that expectations of their role were high, up from 44% last year.