'There is an inevitability to being breached and cyber resiliency is critical'
Organisations across New Zealand are advised to focus more on cyber resilience due to the "inevitability" of cyberattacks.
The latest ANZ State of Data Readiness report 2024 from Commvault revealed that 68% of New Zealand firms experienced at least one attack in the past year. Among them, 43% of organisations reported losing data as a result.
"There is an inevitability to being breached and cyber resiliency is critical," the report read.
Cyber resilience needed
But being cyber resilient isn't the same as being secured from cyberattacks, according to the report.
"Cyber resiliency focuses on adaptability and recoverability, through strong incident response plans, backup and recovery systems, and incorporates business continuity, risk management and training," the report read.
"Rather than prevention, resiliency focuses on continuity even if breached, assuming that attacks and breaches are inevitable."
In New Zealand, the report found that 53% of organisations believe they "could do better" in terms of cyber resilience. Only two per cent of New Zealand employers said they have a "very proactive strategy and capability" to handle cyber-attacks.
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Source: Commvault
Data breach recovery disconnect
In fact, the report also discovered a disconnect between business leaders and IT professionals when it comes to recovering from data breaches. Three in four business leaders in ANZ said they want to be back in business after a cyber incident in five days or less.
However, IT professionals said it will take five to eight weeks for businesses to recover from a breach.
"The findings emphasise the critical gap between the expectation of rapid recovery and the harsh reality of extended downtimes," said Martin Creighan, Vice President for Asia Pacific at Commvault, in a statement.
"Organisations must prioritise strengthening their cyber resilience to safeguard against the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyber threats."