Kyndryl, the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider, today released findings from its global Cyber Gauge 2024: Navigating the complex cybersecurity landscape survey, conducted with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The results reveal a disconnect between perceived and actual cyber readiness among global enterprises. This underscores the critical need for more robust cyber resilience strategies that protect against threats and ensure business continuity.

The research found that nearly two-thirds (63%) of organisations in Australia and New Zealand surveyed said they felt “very prepared” to mitigate cyber attacks, meanwhile 37% cited they felt “somewhat prepared.” Despite this, the vast majority (86%) believe they are likely to experience a disruptive incident within the next year that will impact their financial performance. This disconnect highlights the need for improved awareness and enhanced measures to handle sophisticated cyber threats.

Key findings highlight the challenges of the cyber threat landscape that Australian and New Zealand organisations face:

• Evolving threat landscape: 53% of local IT leaders are grappling with operational challenges like preparing for emerging threats such as nation-state and generative artificial intelligence (AI) attacks. Securing hybrid cloud environments (40%) and managing the complexity of operating multiple security solutions (40%) were also top concerns.
• High frequency of attacks, however, Australia and New Zealand performed better than other geographies: Over the last year, 40% of large organisations reported experiencing a cyberattack that disrupted IT systems or data, the lowest percentage of all regions surveyed and in front of the United States (49%), France (49%) and United Kingdom & Ireland (51%).
• Evidence of proactive cybersecurity measures: 57% of organisations are implementing stricter self-imposed cybersecurity standards, exceeding government requirements, the highest of all regions surveyed.
• Inadequate executive support: Despite this, board of directors not taking an interest in security is more commonly cited as a significant challenge by IT leaders in Australia and New Zealand (43%).
• Local organisational constraints: 52% of organisations noted that remote work continues to strain their security teams, while cybersecurity budget restrictions (45%) and security skills shortages (42%) were also top challenges. Meanwhile, 38% of businesses struggle with security and other risk-mitigating team alignment, over half (53%) say emerging technologies pose a security risk, and 33% lack clear business continuity roadmaps.
• Global industry-specific challenges: Retail (61%), manufacturing (57%), and chemicals, oil, and gas (56%) sectors reported the highest incidence of cyberattacks. Government organisations experienced the highest frequency, with 74% reporting four or more attacks.

E-Yang Tang, Vice President for Cybersecurity, Resilience & Network, Kyndryl Australia and New Zealand said:

“With cyber threats becoming more sophisticated and frequent, bolstering cybersecurity efforts is no longer just an option—it’s a necessity. Our findings reveal the complex challenges facing local organisations, including the emergence of evolved nation-state attacks and new generative AI threats, the growing complexity of security environments, and the persistent gap in executive support. The increasing frequency and severity of attacks highlight the need for a more proactive approach to cybersecurity – with resiliency at the heart to ensure minimal disruption, operational continuity, data protection, while maintaining the trust of customers and stakeholders.”

Methodology

Along with AWS, Kyndryl surveyed IT decision makers from more than 600 large enterprises across seven industries and 12 countries to understand their preparedness for fast-changing cybersecurity threats. To learn more about how prepared large organisations are for these threats, read Cyber Gauge 2024: Navigating the complex cybersecurity landscape.

Learn more about Kyndryl’s security and resiliency offerings.