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October 6 2015

A Breach Will Cost An Australian Business $2.5m

Organised crime gangs are the biggest perpetrators of security breaches in Australia, while hacktivists and disgruntled employees factor in only a tiny fraction of crimes. Ninety-two percent of breaches are perpetrated by outsiders, of which 55% come from organised crime, followed by 21% by state-affiliated hackers and just 2% by activists and 1% by former employees. Some 14% of breaches are perpetrated by insiders, although this is rising. There's an overlap between external and outside perpetrators, who sometimes collude. In addition, weak or stolen credentials are the No.1 cause of breaches, responsible for more than three quarters of incidents. The average cost of a data breach to an Australian business is more than $2.5 million per year, and over the five years to 2014, the average breach involved more than 20,000 records.