Business email hacks go undetected for 11 days on average

One business lost $500,000 in a single transaction after its email system was hacked in what is becoming a growing cybersecurity threat in Australia.

Security firm CyberCX highlighted the issue in its incident response report on Monday, warning that business email compromise attacks had become the leading security issue in Australia and New Zealand and the threats were becoming more sophisticated.

The report also found data extortion attacks were on the rise and more companies were refusing to pay criminal ransoms to regain access to their data after it had been stolen.

The findings come as the federal government considers changes to strengthen cybersecurity laws and just weeks after public consultations into the changes closed.