Australia's Cyber Threats Escalate

Cyber threats are growing in scale and sophistication, with artificial intelligence (AI) reshaping how cybercriminals operate. The Australian Signals Directorate's Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD's ACSC) has released its Annual Cyber Threat Report 2025–26, highlighting the increasing risks facing Australian organisations and the importance of strengthening cyber resilience.

Published on 26 October 2026, the report examines Australia's evolving cyber threat landscape, the growing influence of AI and the practical steps organisations and individuals can take to protect sensitive information and critical systems.

Cyber Incidents Continue to Rise

The report reveals a significant increase in cyber security activity across Australia during 2025–26, with ASD's ACSC:

• Responding to more than 1,500 cyber security incidents, an increase of over 20% on the previous year.

• Notifying organisations of potential malicious activity more than 4,400 times, representing an increase of almost 80%.

Cybercriminals and state-sponsored actors continue to target Australian government agencies, businesses and individuals, seeking to steal sensitive information, disrupt operations, conduct espionage and exploit vulnerabilities.

Ransomware, data breaches and social engineering remain major concerns, with attackers increasingly exploiting trusted relationships to gain access to organisational systems and information.

AI Is Transforming the Cyber Threat Landscape

One of the report's strongest messages is the growing influence of artificial intelligence on cyber security.

AI is enabling malicious actors to identify vulnerabilities faster and launch attacks with greater speed, scale and sophistication. The report also highlights emerging risks associated with unintended actions by AI agents and AI model testing.

However, AI also presents opportunities to strengthen cyber defences, improve threat detection and support more effective incident responses.

The challenge for organisations is to embrace these capabilities while ensuring appropriate governance, security controls and oversight are in place.

Why This Matters for Records and Information Management

For records and information management professionals, the findings reinforce the critical relationship between information governance, cyber security and organisational resilience.

Effective records and information management is not simply about storing and retrieving information. It plays an essential role in ensuring information is appropriately classified, protected, retained and securely disposed of throughout its lifecycle.

As cyber threats evolve, R&IM professionals can help organisations reduce their exposure by strengthening information governance practices, reviewing access permissions, identifying sensitive information and ensuring retention and disposal processes are consistently applied.

The increasing adoption of AI also reinforces the need for clear policies governing how organisational information is accessed, processed and used by automated systems.

Strong collaboration between R&IM, IT, cyber security, privacy and risk management teams is essential to protecting organisational information and maintaining public trust.

Strengthening Cyber Resilience

The ACSC encourages all Australians and organisations to turn cyber security awareness into practical action.

Key measures include implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) or passkeys, reviewing privacy and security settings and maintaining awareness of suspicious activity.

For R&IM professionals, this is also an opportunity to review information governance frameworks, strengthen information security practices and ensure records management requirements are incorporated into organisational cyber security strategies.

The report emphasises that cyber security is everyone's responsibility, and building resilience requires a coordinated approach across people, processes and technology.

Building a More Secure Information Future

The Annual Cyber Threat Report 2025–26 serves as an important reminder that cyber security and information governance cannot operate in isolation.

As organisations navigate increasingly sophisticated cyber threats and the rapid adoption of AI, the role of R&IM professionals in protecting information assets, reducing risk and supporting organisational accountability has never been more important.

By embedding strong information governance practices into cyber security strategies, organisations can improve resilience, protect sensitive information and strengthen trust in an increasingly digital environment.

Read the full Annual Cyber Threat Report 2025–26 on the Australian Cyber Security Centre website.