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The Australian Institute of Criminology has published its second Cybercrime in Australia report, and the results are mixed.
The last 12 months have seen a steady drop in the rates of cyber crime impacting Australians.
Instances of malware dropped, as did fraud and scams, as well as harassment and online abuse.
Sadly, however, according to the 2025 Cybercrime in Australia report, released today (14 August) by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), rates of cyber crime victimisation remain high.
“This year, 10,335 online Australians participated in the Australian Cybercrime Survey,” the AIC said in today’s report.
“Overall, we found that rates of victimisation remain high, formal help-seeking remains low, and a large proportion of victims are negatively impacted by cyber crime.”
Overall, the top-line figures are positive. The proportion of victims reporting multiple instances of cyber crime dropped from 43 per cent to 39 per cent, and 26 per cent fewer respondents said they’d been caught up in a data breach.
Similarly, positive is the fact that small-to-medium businesses were more likely to report all classes of cyber crime or to seek help from law enforcement. For instance, only 13 per cent of SMEs reported malware intrusions in 2023, while 22.4 per cent did so in 2024.
And while the financial losses associated with instances of cyber crime remained the same, victims recovered their losses last year compared to 2023.
Of course, it’s not all good news.
Online safety habits, from keeping an eye on social media settings to installing antivirus software, all dropped in 2024, a worrying sign of possible complacency among the community.
“While respondents rated their knowledge of technology and ability to use technology higher in 2024 than respondents did in 2023, they were less likely to use a range of common online safety strategies,” the AIC said.
“There was little change in the use of higher-risk online behaviours that are associated with an increased likelihood of being a victim of cyber crime.”
The perceived harms related to cyber crime also increased year on year. Of the respondents, 26.8 per cent felt they had suffered social harms in 2024 compared to 17.9 per cent in 2023, and more individuals felt their actual health had been impacted as well.
Members of vulnerable communities were also more likely to be victims of cyber crime. Older people are still less likely to report crimes, and men are more prone to falling victim to online harassment and malware than women. The LGBTI community is more likely to face online harassment as well, alongside non-English speakers and the unemployed.
The full report runs to almost 120 pages and is well worth reading. You can read it in full here.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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