Need to up our game in cyber security field
SMALL businesses “don’t have the knowledge to be ready” for cyber security attacks that may come as a result of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, a state government advisor says.
Aamir Qutub, a member of the Geelong Authority that advises state government on development and investment in central Geelong, said renewed focus on cyber security was needed in wake of attacks on Optus, loan provider Latitude and others.
Mr Qutub, also founder of software company Enterprise Monkey which helps businesses with implementation of digital technology, said hackers could look to exploit the global attention that the Commonwealth Games would bring to Geelong.
“With this global attention comes a huge threat, that I feel we are not ready for, and that is … we are going to get a lot of attention for the hackers and people are going to attack business that are involved in the Commonwealth or even businesses that are going to hold a huge amount of data about the visitors over here,” Mr Qutub said, in a video posted to Linkedin.
“If you look at smaller businesses; they don’t have the time, they don’t have the capacity and they don’t have the knowledge to be ready for any of the cyber security attacks. It is a costly thing; businesses
can’t afford this.”
In February Medibank announced costs associated with its cyber security hack, including upgrading IT systems, could reach up to $45m.
Hackers gained access to the private details, including sensitive medical information, of about 9.7
million Medibank customers.
RMIT Centre of Cyber Security Research and Innovation director Matt Warren said the Games could be used as the source of phishing and spam attacks.
“The Commonwealth Games will be a potential target for cyber attacks due to its high level profile,” Professor Warren said.
“I do not see regional companies being directly targeted because of the Commonwealth Games, but I could see the Commonwealth Games being used as a message hook for phishing and spam attacks aimed at Geelong organisations.
“Cyber security is a global issue that all organisations should be aware of whether they are large or small organisations or whether they located in major cities or in regional or rural areas.”
Mr Qutub said there was a need for “preventative efforts” against cyber security attacks backed by funding from government.
“First of all help them to educate their staff members about the threats of cyber security (attacks), and the risks and the challenges. Then also help them implement the right (preventative) measures as well.
“I could call upon all the industry leaders, business organisations, even membership organisations and industry associations to help businesses, and also to try and get some funding from government, either state or federal, to actually support businesses in getting access to the right cyber security resources.
“Only by doing that (are) we going to be able to ensure that we are keeping our businesses safe and keep the overall experience safe.”