A new white paper, Data Protection Legislation Report from OpenText, unveiled at OpenText Summit Sydney earlier today, examines the evolution of the Australian Privacy Act including recent updates to bring Australian law in line with global best practice.  

The Issues That Most Often Affect Security Teams

Almost two thirds (64%) of Australian respondents to Omdia, OpenText’s primary research partner, highlighted ransomware attacks as the leading issue their security teams are dealing with followed by supporting digital and cloud transformation projects (50%), insider threats (45%) and skills shortages (43%). Combined, these threats show a landscape that is continuously evolving, forcing security teams to remain on guard for the next potential breach. 

“For businesses, understanding their data footprint and the accompanying threat landscape is only the first step. Developing smart strategies to protect their data in the evolving business environments of today requires data discovery tools that provide more than data mapping or metadata scans. Only with these tools can businesses find all their data, understand the risks involved and set appropriate priorities to mitigate compliance and financial risks,” Niel Pandya, CTO & Business Development Lead for Cyber Security for Asia Pac & Japan at OpenText.

Establishing Data Security

Interestingly, most Australian respondents (60%) highlighted both the protection of data to avoid financial loss, and minimising reputational damage as equal drivers of their purchasing decisions for data security solutions. Maintaining compliance (40%), regulatory penalties (30%) and protection of intellectual property (30%) are viewed as important, but less vital to operations.  

Pandya continues, “Consumers are increasingly aware when their data is leaked from insecure systems and are demanding more control over the storage of their personal information. Recent changes to Australian privacy law including the significant increases to maximum civil penalties, the adoption of the Australian Privacy Principles, and the recommended appointment of a Data Privacy Officers demonstrate the shift in government’s focus on these challenging times. Businesses need to be preparing to manage all the data they have stored. This can only be achieved with the appropriate storage, processing, transmission and destruction procedures in place.” 

OpenText Summit Sydney

At the OpenText Summit, a diverse range of companies are tackling issues around data privacy and examining how AI enables them to tap into the promise of speed, productivity, and insights, without the struggle involved in getting started. Sessions include Unveil the Hidden Threat: Over-Retention’s Role in Data Privacy diving into the intricate challenges companies face in this area.  

For more information on the research or the OpenText Summit, please visit here.