Cyberattacks are escalating in speed and sophistication.
Employees susceptible to social engineering have proved vulnerable, despite organisations working to strengthen their cyberattack defences, according to the CrowdStrike 2025 Global Threat Report.
Adversaries target workers and systems lacking modern security controls. Once inside, they move across networks to execute attacks. The fastest breakout observed took just 51 seconds, with an average of 48 minutes, says the report.
In 2024, 79 per cent of the detections CrowdStrike observed were malware-free. This indicates adversaries are using hands-on-keyboard techniques that blend in with legitimate user activity and impede detection. In addition to a rising number of vishing (voice phishing) incidents, financially motivated threat actors are adopting ways to infiltrate help desks, either in-house or via third-party external providers, to reset passwords or multi-factor authentications.
CrowdStrike identified a 50 per cent increase in intrusion by China-based hacker groups into government sectors globally. There was a 150 per cent increase in cyber espionage operations across sectors including financial services, media, manufacturing and engineering.
In Australia, the legal and maritime industries were the most targeted by hacker groups that were based in China.
By the numbers:
- 442% Increase in vishing (voice phishing) attacks between first and second half of 2024
- 79% of detections in 2024 were malware-free, up from 40 per cent in 2019
- 48min Average breakout time, down from 62 minutes in 2023
*Source: CrowdStrike 2025 Global Threat Report
Bank risk management
The latest EY and Institute of International Finance Global Bank Risk Management Survey found the operational resilience agenda has been driven in part by regulatory imperatives, but is also a response to greater inherent risk and volatility in the market. It provides insights into how bank chief risk officers are navigating the increasingly complex risk landscape.
This year’s findings reveal a heightened focus on geopolitical, cyber and regulatory risks, particularly across the Asia Pacific region, where financial institutions are experiencing greater oversight, a race to adopt AI and evolving macroeconomic conditions.
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AI drives innovation
Business leaders are fine-tuning their approach.
Business leaders increasingly see AI as an essential tool, not just for improving business efficiency and profitability, but also for improving the capacity and training of their workforces.
HLB International’s Survey of Business Leaders 2025 highlights the growing role of AI in driving business innovation and profitability as companies adapt to huge technological advances. It found 69 per cent of business leaders around the world rate AI as the most important technology over the next five years, a rise from 2024 (65 per cent).
According to Kapil Kukreja, risk, assurance and consulting partner with HLB Mann Judd Melbourne, “Globally, 71 per cent of leaders say they are focusing on using AI for predictive analytics to track future trends, while 55 per cent are using AI to improve business agility.”
Business leaders are recognising the need to adapt faster. “Notably, 44 per cent of highly profitable companies are ahead on the AI maturity curve,” says Kukreja. “AI is increasingly used as part of business strategy.”
The survey found that profitable businesses are intentionally fostering a culture of innovation, which includes breaking silos, encouraging collaboration and leveraging AI and data analytics to better understand market trends and customer behaviour.
Are Australian businesses prepared?
Asia Pacific (APAC) companies appear to be committed to scaling AI, but only one per cent report being fully prepared to anticipate and mitigate AI risks, according to Accenture’s From compliance to confidence: Embracing a new mindset to advance responsible AI maturity report.
Accenture found companies across APAC are accelerating AI adoption to drive productivity and revenue growth, and nine out of 10 organisations plan to use agentic (able to achieve outcomes independently) AI models in the next three years. However, organisations are yet to operationalise the responsible AI capabilities needed to scale this technology and realise its full potential. Only one per cent of organisations report being prepared for the risks related to compliance, privacy and data, among other AI risks. APAC companies cite privacy and data governance as the top-rated risk (57 per cent), followed by security (53 per cent).
Recommendations for Australian chief experience officers:
Establish AI governance and principles: Define responsible AI principles with clear accountability for design/deployment/use.
Conduct AI risk assessments: Evaluate AI risks, including fairness, transparency, accuracy and human impact, using structured assessments.
Enable systemic responsible AI testing: Perform ongoing AI testing for fairness, explainability and safety, ensuring risk-mitigation measures are in place.
Implement ongoing monitoring and compliance: Establish real-time AI monitoring systems and execute mitigation and compliance actions.
Address workforce impact, sustainability, privacy and security: Ensure AI aligns with ethical and regulatory standards through cross-functional collaboration to address the effects on workers, compliance with laws, and sustainability, privacy and security programs across the enterprise.
“As businesses across APAC deal with change and disruption, they recognise success lies in embracing flexibility and finding new sources of efficiency and growth by using technology,” says Ryoji Sekido, CEO of Asia Oceania at Accenture. “They have increased their investments in AI, but the majority are finding it difficult to extract the right value from this investment.”
To effectively scale AI, particularly generative and agentic AI, he says businesses must invest in building trust among their people and customers, ensure they have the right data foundation and operationalise responsible AI.
Insolvency
Inflation and high energy costs drag on companies in distress.
The McGrathNicol Forecast 2025 report expects elevated numbers of corporate insolvencies and challenging business conditions to continue this year due to inflationary pressures, high energy costs and poor consumer sentiment.
The slowing economy of Australia’s largest trading partner, China, combined with heightened geopolitical risks and new measures announced by the US, will likely threaten those exposed to foreign markets and trade dynamics. These factors, together with the approaching federal election, pose uncertainty to Australian businesses in already challenging times.
“We expect additional pressure being placed on businesses by the ATO, with their FY25 corporate plan setting out strengthening of debt collection as a key focus area,” says McGrathNicol partner Kathy Sozou. “In addition, the federal government has reported, subject to the passage of legislation, from 1 July 2025, businesses will no longer be able to claim interest paid on overdue ATO debts as a tax-deductible expense.”
ASIC recorded a record number of insolvencies (13,451) in 2024, with the construction and hospitality sectors hardest hit at 42 per cent of the total. “In 2025, we expect this trend to continue and sectors impacted to widen,” says Sozou."
This article first appeared under the headline ‘Stealth Acts Increasing’ in the April 2025 issue of Company Director magazine.
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