Cyber attacks cost the economy $3.5b in 2020

Our General Manager of Research, Russell Wright, has brought the cybersecurity sector to attention in his recent daily Morning Report.


The Australian Financial Review released an article discussing 'Cyber attacks cost the economy $3.5b in 2020, Telstra’s Andy Penn says' on the 15th of July, 2021. 

The article opens with:

"Calls to the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s cyber hotline were four times higher in May than last year, with hackers using the cover of the pandemic to exploit key weaknesses in the digital infrastructure of the nation’s finance, health, education and energy sectors, according to a landmark report."

It was noted that, 

"The first yearly review from the government’s industry-led Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee showed the centre responded to 1786 cybersecurity incidents between June 2020 and May 2021."

Russell then highlights the findings of the committee, as they also found:

"Hackers were increasingly focused on disrupting critical supply chains.

It is a situation that committee chairman and Telstra chief executive Andy Penn said Australia must arrest, as attacks cost the economy up to $3.5 billion last year."

In a digital National Press Club address, Mr Penn said:

"Criminals are not blind to the fact that pulling on one web in a supply chain can have a cascading effect."

As a result, the AFR reported that: 

"If a cyber-attack takes down the electricity grid, it takes down telecommunications, it impacts finance and banking, it stops trains, it stops traffic lights, and logistics comes to a halt."

 

In saying this, our Head of Trading, Trent Primmer discusses his position on the tech sector:

 

Trent-Primmer

"We see cybersecurity for investors being a massive growth and value capture opportunity probably in the next 5 to 10 years. We’ve got an emergence of technology moving to cloud and data storage as opposed to on-premise storage so we see a massive focus on cybersecurity moving forward."

- Trent Primmer, Head of Trading

 


 

WhiteHawk (ASX:WHK)
whitehawk_client_spotlight

WhiteHawk Limited (ASX:WHK)  is the first global online cybersecurity exchange enabling businesses of all sizes to take smart action against cybercrime. WhiteHawk is at the forefront of this industry and is receiving a lot of interest at the moment.

Terry Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of WhiteHawk Limited (ASX:WHK), discusses how businesses in Australia can identify, prioritise and mitigate cyber risks within her Cyber Risk Program Challenge.

 

Terry Roberts trans

"First very publicly own your digital age risk ahead of your competitors and get your entire management team involved – this impacts everyone."

Terry Roberts, Chief Executive Officer

 

 

WhiteHawk is driven to stop online crime and fraud in its tracks across businesses and organisations of all sizes.

Trent says:

"Companies like WhiteHawk, in particular, are a value capture for investors."

 

To keep up to date with what's happening with WhiteHawk and the cybersecurity industry as a whole, subscribe to the WhiteHawk Chairman’s List.