The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) Cyber Threat Report for 2022-23 confirms the need for individual vigilance combined with sophisticated systems to guard against fraud.
By Jacquelene Pearson*
The latest Cyber Threat Report from the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) confirms what most of us have been thinking as data breaches and cyber fraud continue to make headlines around the world.
In Australia alone, during the 2022-23 year, the average cost of cybercrime for a large business increased by 14 per cent per report to $71,600, $97,200 for a medium business, and $46,000 for a small business.
The ASD said nearly 94,000 cybercrimes were reported, an increase of 23 per cent on the previous year. That’s on average a report every six minutes. When it comes to businesses, one of the top three cybercrimes is online banking fraud.
Fortunately, there are strategies corporations can use to maximise their resistance to cybercrime, keep their data secure and sleep peacefully as their transactions and funding requirements are met with the highest levels of built-in security.
At Acuity we have worked hard to be granted membership to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).
“We have been granted membership to SWIFT as a Non-Supervised Entity active in the financial industry and that means SWIFT considers Acuity to be an organisation that can engage in activities involving payments, securities, banking, investment services and activities to Supervised Financial Institutions and Third Parties using the SWIFT platform,” said Acuity CEO, Mr Ranjit Thambyrajah.
“It is a very small and preferred group of organisations that are granted this type of membership to SWIFT. In fact, I do not know of any other organisation that currently holds a membership like ours,” he said.
SWIFT sends millions of financial messages every day all over the world and Acuity’s SWIFT Code means it can send money across borders, with safety, via the SWIFT network. SWIFT acknowledges that the global payments system is evolving rapidly and that is why it dedicates resources to keeping a close eye on cyber-attack trends.
The SWIFT Customer Security Programme has been used since 2016 to identify signs that help financial organisations “spot and stop” cyber-attacks before financial losses are suffered.
As a SWIFT member, Acuity has access to the Customer Security Programme forum so we can collaborate with other major global financial institutions to detect and prevent attacks before they result in financial losses.
Using SWIFT for our cross-border transactions also means Acuity Funding can monitor and report on our payments in real time so we are able to use payment controls and alerting tools based on the global intelligence gathered by SWIFT.
Acuity’s SWIFT membership really does place us at the cutting edge of global funds transfer speed, reliability, and security. It is one of the many ways we serve our investors and our funding clients to ensure everyone rests a little easier about the risk of cybercrime.
To find out more about how Acuity’s SWIFT membership could benefit your cross-border project contact our global desk today on +61294840609 or email contacts@acuityfunding.com
*Jacquelene Pearson is Acuity’s content editor
