From millions to malware: Cyber attacks in Australia by the numbers

For small businesses, the idea of being hit by a cyber attack is probably an unpleasant one, and most SME owners would by now be aware of the risks associated with being a victim of digital crime.

And while you might know topline statistics about Australia’s cybercrime landscape — such as the fact it costs the economy over $1 billion each year — you might not know some of the scarier and more worrying stats.

To help you get a sense of it, we’ve collated some of the most shocking statistics from reports on how Australia’s small to medium businesses approach cyber security. Check them out below.

Cyber security by the numbers:

• 516,380 — the number of Australian small businesses that fell victim to cyber crime in 2017, according to Norton.
• $4677 — the average amount the majority of SMEs would have to pay to free their data from ransomware.
• 25 hours or more — the amount of downtime one in four businesses hit by cyber attacks suffer.
• $1.9 million — the average cost to a medium sized business if hit by a cyber attack.
• One third — the number of SMEs who say they continuously back up their systems’ data.
• One — the number of staff members that hackers need to dupe in order to gain access to your business’ data

Read more: What you need to know about Australia’s three most common cyber threats

• 63 — the number of data breaches the Office of the Information Commissioner was notified about in the first six weeks of mandatory data breach reporting.
• 1,800,000 — the number of dollars you might have to cough up if you don’t comply with the mandatory data breach laws
• $8,429 — the price of one Bitcoin (at the moment). Businesses often require the digital currency to send to hackers as a ransom payment.
• 30 — the number of gigabytes of sensitive Department of Defence data lost by a small “mum and dad” business in a 2016 data breach
• $14 million — the amount in compensation offered to users of Ashley Madison after the adultery site’s famous 2015 data breach.
• Three — the number of really weirdly named ransomware attacks that devastated global businesses in 2017.
• Five — the number of minutes you need to read through the Australian Small Business Ombudsman’s cyber security guide for small businesses.

NOW READ: Nine Australian cyber security startups raising money and kicking goals