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• New AICD survey underscores corporate Australia’s vulnerability to cyberattack

New AICD survey underscores corporate Australia’s vulnerability to cyberattack

The vulnerability of Australian companies to cyberattacks has been underscored by a new survey showing most boards still lack specific expertise despite the well-known threat posed by hackers.

Less than a month after a cyberattack on Optus exposed the details of millions of customers, the bi-annual sentiment poll by the Australian Institute of Company Directors shows that while boards insist that they are aware of the risks of an attack, only one-third have a committee with a cyber specific focus.

The poll of 1475 directors ran for two weeks in the second half of September, winding up five days after the Optus breach was disclosed on September 22.

While cyber security remains a pre-occupation for directors and was identified as the major issue keeping them awake at night, the survey findings underline the difficulty companies are having in finding the board expertise they need to help them meet the threat from increasingy sophisticated hackers.

According to the poll, companies are also being limited from recruiting cyber skills by Australia’s labour shortage, which is now seen by directors as the major immediate economic challenge facing businesses, ahead of inflation and rising interest rates.

“Increasing skilled migration and boosting education and training should be at the heart of our economic response post COVID,” AICD chief executive Mark Rigotti said.

“The lack of skilled labour impacts the ability of organisations to combat current challenges including cyber security, the transition to net zero and digital transformation,” he said.

The survey shows national director sentiment has fallen to a two-year low, down 8.5 points on the last survey released in May, on concerns about the global economy and softer business conditions on the east coast.

Directors largely agree that the Reserve Bank is increasing rates at the right pace, but they fear the tightening will lead to a significant increase in business insolvencies and a housing debt crisis.

Most (54 per cent) were still confident about the strength of the national economy, but there’s less optimism about the 12-month outlook (down to 42 per cent from 57 per cent).

WA remains the most bullish, with 74 per cent of local respondents believing the State will be in a strong economic position in a year’s time. As a comparison, Tasmania was the next most confident on 48 per cent.

The McGowan Government was the most supported government in the country, with 52 per cent believing it understands business. The Labor Governments in Queensland and Victoria attracted ratings of just 19 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.

There were mixed findings about the performance of the new Federal Government, which was elected after the last survey. The proportion of directors agreeing they trusted the Government improved 9 points to 38 per cent, but just 31 per cent agreed it understood business, against 41 per cent who disagreed.

Among other findings, climate change remains the most pressing government priority over the next 10 to 20 years, 63 per cent of directors believe advancing reconciliation with First Nations peoples is a national governance priority and 83 per cent said skilled migration levels were not keeping up with labour demand in Australia.