In our commitment to privacy best practice and advancing the privacy rights of individuals, Lander & Rogers is proud to support Privacy Awareness Week. An initiative of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), Privacy Week runs from 2 to 8 May and provides a chance to share knowledge and learn about the foundations organisations and individuals can put in place to protect their personal information.
This year's theme is Privacy: The foundation of trust, a reminder that everyone should feel safe and confident in their right to privacy.
Why is privacy important?
In the 2020-2021 financial year, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) received more than 67,500 reports of cybercrime ─ the equivalent of one incident every eight minutes, posing an estimated $33 billion cost to businesses.
Ransomware attacks reached an all-time high in 2021, with hackers targeting critical infrastructure, governments and global companies with increasingly sophisticated extortion tactics. Attacks on supply chains became more widespread, and deep fake technology allowed cyber criminals to infiltrate business' email systems in convincing new ways. As investment in cryptocurrency surged in 2021, opportunistic hackers carried out the world's largest digital asset heist, stealing US$600 million.
As cyber attacks continue to evolve and become more frequent, privacy awareness and data protection have never been more critical.
How can individuals and organisations guard against cyber attacks?
The OAIC has published guidance for individuals, businesses, and government entities on how to look after personal information and build good privacy practices. These include:
- understanding your obligations and staying up to date with changing privacy and legal requirements
- having secure systems in place for storing and sharing personal information
- taking suspected data breaches seriously and having a response plan in place
- reviewing your practices and policies regularly
Insights and further information
Lander & Rogers' team of data privacy and cyber security experts publishes regularly on privacy, responding to cyber threats and mitigating risk of data breaches. See below for useful guidance and articles on data protection for organisations.
Guide to data protection in Australia
Insights from the Information Commissioner's investigations into Uber, 7-Eleven and Clearview AI
Building cyber resilience: Lessons from 2021
Privacy and working from home: Five steps your organisation should be doing to minimise risk
Cyber security: The cost of the human factor
For a comprehensive look at the cyber landscape and how to build cyber resilience, see our Cyber Security Year in Review.
Keep an eye on our Linkedin feed for additional guidance on how to protect personal and sensitive information and keep yourself, and your organisation, safe from cyber threats, as well as implement compliant privacy practices.
Photo by Rodion Kutsaev on Unsplash
All information on this site is of a general nature only and is not intended to be relied upon as, nor to be a substitute for, specific legal professional advice. No responsibility for the loss occasioned to any person acting on or refraining from action as a result of any material published can be accepted.
