Seven in ten Aussies fearful of cyber attacks

More than seven in ten surveyed adults (72 percent) across Australia say they are fearful that cyber hackers are carrying out attacks on major industries and sectors of the economy in their country, according to the results of a 10-country study announced today by Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS).

More than half of Australian respondents (57 percent) indicated they do not believe that it is possible to stop all the cyber attacks and they will continue to attack until they find a way to get past any security.

More than a third (36 percent) don’t feel that government and organisations are taking these threats seriously enough.

“Cyber attacks are a clear and present threat to every industry, in every country throughout the world,” Michael Chertoff, co-founder and executive chairman of the Chertoff Group, and former head of the US Department of Homeland Security said.

“This threat is real and industries need a proactive and coordinated approach to protect their assets as well as their intellectual property. We have seen a number of attacks to critical industries in areas like the Middle East and the US and these have had major impacts on their operations.”

The British government estimates that cyber security breaches at British energy companies alone cost those companies about 400 million pounds ($664 million) every year.

In the US, the Department of Homeland Security said that more than 40 percent of industrial cyber attacks targeted the energy industry in 2012, the last full year reported.

“These survey results are not surprising in light of the recent cyber attacks that have made headlines in several areas around the world,” said Jeff Zindel, leader of HPS’ Industrial Cyber Security business.

“The impacts of these attacks, as well as others that have not been publicly reported, have cost companies and governments billions of dollars through operational issues and loss of intellectual property.”

In December 2014, HPS will establish the Honeywell Industrial Cyber Security Lab near Atlanta, Georgia.

The lab will expand the company’s research capabilities and will feature a model of a complete process control network which Honeywell cyber security experts will leverage to develop, test and certify industrial cyber security solutions.

This lab will help accelerate proprietary research and development of new cyber technologies and solutions to help defend industrial facilities, operations and people.