New study from KnowBe4 shows that Australian IT executives desire increased information sharing and government action to assist companies manage cybersecurity. IT executives in Australia are urging the government to increase support and information sharing in order to combat cybercriminals as cyberattacks and data breaches continue to increase.
Four out of five executives (81%), up from 73% in 2024, 70% in 2022, and 68% in 2021, believe the government should be doing more to safeguard Australian companies against cyberattacks, the study finds. This comprises:
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Wanting more education and awareness to all Australians about cyber risks and how to stay safe online (59% – up from 48% in 2024, 43% in 2022, and 45% in 2021);
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Providing more training for Australian businesses on cyber risks (45% – up from 42% in 2024, 39% in 2022, and 38% in 2021); and
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More funding for Australian businesses for cyber protection (36% – up from 31% in 2024, 36% in 2022, and 36% in 2021).
Tech executives are still performing their duties in spite of the requests for assistance. Although half of Australian IT decision-makers think that everyone should be responsible for protecting the company from cyberattacks, more than one in three now think that the IT department should be in charge of this (36% – up from 20% in 2024, 25% in 2022, and 31% in 2021).
Specifically, they think that employees (9% – down from 12% in 2024, 15% in 2022, and 19% in 2021) and the government (13% – down from 19% in 2024, 21% in 2022, and 18% in 2021) bear responsibility.
In line with 2024 findings, over one-fourth (27%), which is the same as 27% in 2024, 27% in 2022, and 26% in 2021, believe that technology should be defending the company from cyberattacks.
IT executives are also asking the government to share more information. Over one-third of executives (36%) said they are satisfied that they understand their organization’s duties for government reporting of cyber incidents/data breaches, which is an increase over prior years. This percentage was up from 33% in 2024, 44% in 2022, and 45% in 2021. Nonetheless, more than nine out of ten (93%) still emphasize how beneficial it would be for their organization if companies, law enforcement, and the government shared information and best practices about data breaches.
In addition to support to raise staff awareness of cybersecurity issues (51% – up from 43% in 2024), help with early detection of potential threats and vulnerabilities (47% – up from 43% in 2024), and contribute to better risk mitigation strategies and practices (45% – up from 39% in 2024), about half of Australian IT decision-makers would like to see the government share knowledge and lessons learned from others’ experiences (52% – up from 41% in 2024).
Furthermore, more than one-third think that they would benefit from enhancing incident response capabilities and speeding up response times (37% – up from 30% in 2024), boosting cooperation with law enforcement and government agencies (37% – up from 31% in 2024), setting industry cybersecurity standards and practices (36% – up from 29% in 2024), and encouraging cooperative defense strategies with other organizations (35% – up from 26% in 2024).
Additionally, about three out of ten would like help mitigating the financial impact of possible data breaches (30% – down from 36% in 2024), meeting regulatory compliance requirements more successfully (30% – similar to 29% in 2024), and providing access to anonymized incident data for analysis without disclosing specific organizational details (28% – up from 23% in 2024).
“There is a clear acknowledgement from IT leaders around public and internal responsibility when it comes to managing cyber threats, but it is clear they don’t have the capabilities to protect their organisations at the level required,” said KnowBe4 Security Awareness Advocate Martin Kraemer. “IT leaders are not trying to point the finger at government but they are struggling to keep up and want to know that higher powers are available to back them up more holistically through collaboration, sharing of information, and public education.”
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