The Shield | April 2025 -CyberWardens

The Shield | April 2025 -CyberWarden

The Cyber Security Pulse Check Report released on April 15 highlights an alarming trend of increasing cyber threats to small businesses, particularly with the rise of AI-powered attacks. This Easter, Cyber Wardens is warning business owners to be vigilant during the holiday period when cyber criminals are especially active.

Since the Cyber Wardens program’s inception in 2023, there has been a 12% decrease in the number of businesses categorised as least aware of cyber security issues, demonstrating the program’s positive impact on small businesses.

Building on this success, Cyber Wardens will launch a new “Safe AI for Small Business” course this month. The program already offers various educational resources, including a 10-minute Foundations course and specialised options like Cyber Aid for healthcare businesses.

COSBOA CEO Luke Achterstraat reinforced the importance of these initiatives, noting that cyber criminals often target small businesses during busy holiday periods when they might be less vigilant. He warns that in the AI era, cyber threats often come disguised in “shiny, appealing packaging.”

In response to these seasonal vulnerabilities, The Shield will be focusing its Easter efforts on keeping you protected at a time when scam detection might be down.

Cyber Security Pulse Check Report: Key insights

• 82% of small businesses experienced a cyber incident in the past year
• Only 41% feel confident about protection against emerging threats like AI-driven attacks
• 74% believe rapidly advancing technology poses a risk to their business in the next five years
• Cyber security now ranks as the third highest threat to small businesses, ahead of energy prices

How to Spot the “Bad Eggs” in Your Inbox:

• Be wary of unexpected communications claiming urgency during the holiday period
• Verify requests for financial transactions or sensitive information through separate channels
• Remember that AI-powered scams can now mimic human interaction with alarming accuracy
• Stay especially vigilant when you’re busy with holiday preparations and might be more distracted

Social engineering: the human hack

Social engineering exploits our natural tendencies to trust, help, and respond to urgency, turning human emotions into a gateway for cyber attacks.

Do you have a burning cyber security question you’ve always wanted to ask?

This month, we want to know: “How do I protect myself from bad eggs when setting my out of office”?

Ryan’s top tip: If it looks too good to be true… Think before you shop.

Websites are being cloned by cyber criminals and telling the difference between the fake website and the real thing isn’t always straighforward.

Cyber expert Ryan Ettridge, Head of Growth and Partnerships at CyberCert, explains how this works and how to spot fraud.

Feeling the threat of AI?

Our new Cyber Wardens course ‘Safe AI for small business’ is launching soon!

It will help you embrace AI technology safely, while protecting your personal and business information.

Cyber Wardens is a national initiative of the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia (COSBOA), supported by the Australian Government and an industry alliance led by Telstra, CommBank and the Australian Cyber Security Centre, to help protect Australia’s 2.5 million small businesses from online threats. The program builds a culture of cyber safety and creates cyber skills within Australian small businesses.

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