CEOs place cyber threats at the forefront of their concerns for the year 2024.

Corporate leaders are losing sleep over cybersecurity concerns, marking it as their top worry, especially in the wake of escalating hacker activities, exemplified by recent attacks on St Vincent’s Health and Victoria’s court system. According to a report titled “Keeping us up at night” by KPMG, which surveyed over 300 Australian CEOs in October of the previous year, dealing with cyber risks is identified as the primary focus for 2024 and the next three to five years. KPMG’s Chief Executive, Andrew Yates, emphasized that this heightened concern stems from a series of significant cyberattacks starting in October 2022, such as the breach of sensitive health records at Medibank and a threat to disrupt Christmas shoppers through an attack on DP World ports last November.

Yates noted, “I think it’s just the increased awareness that this is an issue that is with us, and it’s not going to go away.”

These findings align with an Australian Financial Review survey of top CEOs published this month, emphasizing that cybersecurity is a significant risk not receiving the attention it deserves. In a recent incident, the court system in Victoria fell victim to a ransomware attack, potentially exposing archives containing testimony from highly sensitive cases.