Australia cyber attacks rise 39% as ransomware grows

Check Point Research has published new figures showing Australian organisations faced an average of 2,117 cyber attacks a week in October, 39% more than a year earlier.

New Zealand organisations faced an average of 1,913 attacks a week, up 16% from October last year. Globally, the average organisation recorded 2,550 attacks a week, down from September but still 32% above the level a year earlier.

The figures point to a mixed threat picture. Attack volumes and phishing fell from the previous month, while ransomware claims rose and the use of generative AI tools continued to create risks around sensitive data sharing.

"A lower monthly figure should not be mistaken for a lower level of risk, as attacks are still running about a third above where they were a year ago," said Omer Dembinsky, Data Research Manager at Check Point Research.

"Every region is seeing more attacks than in 2025, employees are sharing sensitive data with GenAI tools at a growing rate, and ransomware groups are building AI into their operations. Defenders need to prevent attacks earlier, with AI-powered protection and shared intelligence working together across networks, cloud, email, endpoints and AI services," Dembinsky said.

Sector pressure

Education remained the most targeted sector worldwide, with each organisation facing 5,934 attacks a week on average, 33% more than a year earlier.

Agriculture ranked second with 3,218 weekly attacks per organisation, up 93% year on year, the steepest rise among the leading sectors. Telecommunications followed with 3,068 attacks, up 19%.

Government, Energy and Utilities, and Healthcare and Medical also ranked in the upper half of the table. The data showed double-digit annual growth across all tracked sectors.

Regional picture

Africa recorded the highest regional attack volume, with organisations facing 3,834 attacks a week on average, up 38% from a year earlier. Latin America followed with 3,483, and Asia-Pacific with 3,436.

Europe posted the fastest growth rate, with attacks rising 39% year on year. North America recorded a 33% increase.

In Australia and New Zealand, monthly totals were below September levels, but annual comparisons remained sharply higher. Australia was down 9% from September and New Zealand 7%.

GenAI exposure

The report found that 2.9% of enterprise generative AI prompts in October carried a high risk of leaking sensitive data, affecting 90% of organisations that regularly use such tools.

Another 12% of prompts included information that could be sensitive. The share of high-risk prompts has risen for three straight months, from 2.3% in August to 2.5% in September and 2.9% in October.

On average, each user sent 91 prompts during the month, while each organisation used seven generative AI tools. Financial information appeared most often, showing up in prompts at 71% of organisations. Legal and regulatory material and network and IT infrastructure details followed at 70%, HR and employee data at 67%, and personally identifiable information at 62%.

Business Services recorded the highest rate of high-risk prompts at 5.4%, ahead of Government at 4.6% and Financial Services at 4.5%. By region, Latin America stood at 3.8%, followed by North America at 3.3% and Asia-Pacific at 2.5%.

Phishing and ransomware

Phishing activity eased in October. The report found that 1 in 128 emails, or 0.78%, was malicious, compared with 1 in 91, or 1.10%, in the previous month.

Most malicious emails still relied on links rather than attachments. Of those identified, 79% contained a link and 14% carried an attachment.

North America had the highest regional phishing rate at 0.81%. By sector, Construction and Engineering faced the highest level at 1.72%, ahead of Real Estate, Rentals and Leasing at 1.05% and Associations and Nonprofits at 0.97%.

Ransomware extortion groups publicly claimed 1,063 victims in October, the highest monthly figure in the data set and 35% above the same month a year earlier. Business Services accounted for 31.5% of claimed victims, followed by Consumer Goods and Services at 14.9% and Industrial Manufacturing at 11.6%.

North America represented 48% of claimed ransomware victims, Europe 22% and Asia-Pacific 18%. The United States alone accounted for 44.3%, ahead of Germany at 5.2% and Canada at 4.0%.

Group rankings

Among ransomware groups, The Gentlemen was linked to 13% of published attacks in October, with Qilin close behind at 12%. A newer group, n0n, moved into third place with 8%, up from 2% in September.

The report described n0n as a data theft and extortion operation that relies heavily on AI-assisted tools. The total number of active groups was broadly unchanged over the past three months, as new operators emerged while others became inactive.

Overall, the global findings suggest that while some cyber threat measures softened from the previous month, attack activity across Australia, New Zealand and other regions remains well above last year's level, with ransomware and data exposure through AI tools still rising.