The Essential Eight can help defend your business against:
- Business email compromise
- Data breaches
- Hacking
- Identity theft
- Malware
- Ransomware
- Scams
- System & network attacks
Why should you implement the Essential Eight?
Cybercrime is rife, and a growing threat for Australian businesses.
- A survey conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology found 47% of respondents had experienced at least one cybercrime in the previous 12 months.
- The average cost per cybercrime is over $39,000 for small businesses and $88,000 for medium businesses, according to the Australian Signals Directorate’s annual Cyber Threat Report.
What happens if you don’t implement the Essential Eight?
You wouldn’t leave the front door of your home wide open, because you know a criminal would be more likely to break in. Yet a surprisingly large number of businesses leave their cyber doors wide open.
If you don’t implement the Essential Eight, you’re making yourself a tempting target for cybercriminals. The costs of being hacked could be enormous. You might:
- Be forced to pay fines, compensation and higher insurance premiums
- Be held liable for damages suffered by other parties
- Suffer enormous reputational damage
- Lose valuable intellectual property
- Experience massive disruption to your business
That’s why the government’s cyber.gov.au website says implementing the Essential Eight can be “more cost-effective in terms of time, money and effort than having to respond to a large-scale cyber security incident”.