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A/NZ Companies Not Changing Data Management Despite Multiple Breaches

The majority of organizations across Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) breached over the last year had personally identifiable information (PII) compromised, but most have not yet modified their data management policies, according to the Cybersecurity and PII Report from ManageEngine, the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corporation.


The survey respondents who had reported their organization experienced between one and five data breaches in the past 12 months said PII was involved in 51% of instances. Despite this, of the respondents who can comment on PII and are aware of major data breaches, the majority (54%) reported either no changes in PII management following the breaches or said they were unaware of any changes. Further, 42% said they have not been advised of their organization's protocols around PII management.

When it came to data categories, 55% of respondents said they store data on past customers, 41% on past employees, 70% on current customers, 66% on current employees and 37% on potential customers.

Vinayak Sreedhar, ManageEngine's country manager for Australia, said the findings highlight alarming gaps in Australia's cybersecurity preparedness. "One year ago, a string of high-profile breaches saw millions of Australians have their data compromised, with identification points traded on the dark web,” he said. "This prompted discussions around the legal right to request the erasure of personal information in company databases. The law is yet to change in Australia and, as this survey indicates, local organizations have not changed their practices."

When it came to cyber resilience, 24% of survey participants who were aware of cyber resilience said their organization either did not have a cyber resilience policy or they were unaware of it. The majority (63%) were also unfamiliar with the Essential Eight, the cybersecurity framework proposed by the Australian Cyber Security Centre that is mandatory at the federal government level, to enhance cyber readiness.

Rajesh Ganesan, President of ManageEngine, said the report underscores the pressing need for stronger cybersecurity measures and more effective PII management strategies among A/NZ companies. "It's imperative that businesses adopt the data protection standards specific to their region, stay compliant, and bolster their cyber resilience to protect not only their own operations, but the sensitive information of staff and customers, both past and present. We hope this report drives home the urgency of these requirements."

Other key findings:

■ Of the respondents that experienced a breach, 73% said it took their organization less than 24 hours after critical systems were taken offline or impacted to recover and restore operations.

■ Of the respondents, 74% said their organization has not paid a ransom to recover data, but 10% indicated they had.

■ Of the 78% of respondents aware of major data breaches in other organizations, 17% of Australian respondents weren't aware of recent major cybersecurity breaches occurring in Q3 2023, while 47% of those in New Zealand were uninformed.

Methodology: Conducted by Sydney-based research and insights advisory firm StollzNow, the study commissioned by ManageEngine surveyed 306 senior IT decision-makers from different organizations in A/NZ, covering topics such as cyber resilience, PII management, cyber practices under hybrid work models, the Essential Eight, malware and ransomware. The study identified key dimensions that require immediate attention by decision-makers and highlighted cybersecurity challenges.

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A/NZ Companies Not Changing Data Management Despite Multiple Breaches

The majority of organizations across Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) breached over the last year had personally identifiable information (PII) compromised, but most have not yet modified their data management policies, according to the Cybersecurity and PII Report from ManageEngine, the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corporation.


The survey respondents who had reported their organization experienced between one and five data breaches in the past 12 months said PII was involved in 51% of instances. Despite this, of the respondents who can comment on PII and are aware of major data breaches, the majority (54%) reported either no changes in PII management following the breaches or said they were unaware of any changes. Further, 42% said they have not been advised of their organization's protocols around PII management.

When it came to data categories, 55% of respondents said they store data on past customers, 41% on past employees, 70% on current customers, 66% on current employees and 37% on potential customers.

Vinayak Sreedhar, ManageEngine's country manager for Australia, said the findings highlight alarming gaps in Australia's cybersecurity preparedness. "One year ago, a string of high-profile breaches saw millions of Australians have their data compromised, with identification points traded on the dark web,” he said. "This prompted discussions around the legal right to request the erasure of personal information in company databases. The law is yet to change in Australia and, as this survey indicates, local organizations have not changed their practices."

When it came to cyber resilience, 24% of survey participants who were aware of cyber resilience said their organization either did not have a cyber resilience policy or they were unaware of it. The majority (63%) were also unfamiliar with the Essential Eight, the cybersecurity framework proposed by the Australian Cyber Security Centre that is mandatory at the federal government level, to enhance cyber readiness.

Rajesh Ganesan, President of ManageEngine, said the report underscores the pressing need for stronger cybersecurity measures and more effective PII management strategies among A/NZ companies. "It's imperative that businesses adopt the data protection standards specific to their region, stay compliant, and bolster their cyber resilience to protect not only their own operations, but the sensitive information of staff and customers, both past and present. We hope this report drives home the urgency of these requirements."

Other key findings:

■ Of the respondents that experienced a breach, 73% said it took their organization less than 24 hours after critical systems were taken offline or impacted to recover and restore operations.

■ Of the respondents, 74% said their organization has not paid a ransom to recover data, but 10% indicated they had.

■ Of the 78% of respondents aware of major data breaches in other organizations, 17% of Australian respondents weren't aware of recent major cybersecurity breaches occurring in Q3 2023, while 47% of those in New Zealand were uninformed.

Methodology: Conducted by Sydney-based research and insights advisory firm StollzNow, the study commissioned by ManageEngine surveyed 306 senior IT decision-makers from different organizations in A/NZ, covering topics such as cyber resilience, PII management, cyber practices under hybrid work models, the Essential Eight, malware and ransomware. The study identified key dimensions that require immediate attention by decision-makers and highlighted cybersecurity challenges.

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According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

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In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

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