In Australia, a hacking frenzy spurred by an undersized cybersecurity workforce

A swathe of hacks on some of Australia’s biggest companies has made the country a target for copycat attacks just as a skills shortage leaves an understaffed, overworked cybersecurity workforce ill-equipped to stop it, technology experts said.

As Monday saw the disclosure of another potential breach of sensitive data – a ransomware attack on a communication platform for military personnel – cybersecurity experts put a wave of high-profile breaches down to a common factor: human error.

Between Australia’s No. 2 telecoms company Optus, which is owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, and the country’s biggest health insurer, Medibank Private Ltd, some 14 million customer accounts have had data hacked – equivalent to 56% of the population – since Sept. 22 alone.