Cyber Threats & Scams Now Include Advanced AI
The latest Cyber Crime statistics from the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC) show that a cybercrime is reported every 6 minutes.
The most commonly reported cybercrime is identity fraud, which remains the top category reported to ReportCyber (up 8% on the previous year). Among individuals, this is followed by online shopping fraud (13%) and online banking fraud (10%). Businesses most frequently reported email compromise resulting in no financial loss (19%), business email compromise (BEC) fraud resulting in financial loss (15%), and identity fraud (11%).
Scammers are now also using artificial intelligence to create highly realistic fake videos or audio recordings that pretend to be authentic content from real people. GenAI is increasingly used by cybercriminals to generate high-quality fake voices, videos, websites and spear phishing emails, making it easier than ever to manipulate trust and deceive people in digital interactions.
Queensland is one of the hardest-hit states
According to the ACSC’s Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024–25, Queensland, along with Victoria and New South Wales, continues to report more cybercrime than any other state or territory, with disproportionately higher reporting rates relative to its population. This means Queensland businesses and individuals aren’t just contributing to the national numbers, they’re among the most frequently targeted in the country.
Figure 1: Breakdown of cybercrime reports by jurisdiction for FY2024–25
Cybercrime reports by state and territory. Sourced from the Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024–2025, Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Signals Directorate). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
No business is too small (or too big) to be a target
A cyber security incident can have devastating impacts on small as well as large businesses, with potential loss of confidential information, reputation and interruption to business operations and profits. The average self-reported cost of cybercrime to businesses rose sharply in FY2024–25 — up 50% overall, with small businesses losing an average of $56,600, medium businesses $97,200, and large businesses $202,700.
Many owners and managers of small businesses don’t have the time or resources to dedicate to cyber security. However, there are simple measures, in addition to Cyber Insurance, that you and your managers can introduce to help prevent common cyber security incidents.
Read the full report here:
Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024-2025
Talk to Herron
We strongly recommend you look at free resources such as the ASD’s ACSC Small Business Cyber Security Guide for guidance and alerts.
Get in touch with the team at Herron Insurance to discuss how we can help protect your business from the financial and reputational fallout of a cyber incident.
Herron – Business & Commercial Insurance Pty Ltd ABN 50 648 998 850 is a Corporate Authorised Representative (No. 1292090) of Insurance Advisernet Australia Pty Ltd ABN 15 003 886 687 AFSL: 240549
Callum Graham
Principal Adviser
Mark Herron
Principal