Australia’s larger capital centres on the eastern seaboard, where a majority of the Australian population and companies are located, continue to be the main areas for reported cyber security incidents and cybercrime activity (see Figure 2). The highest proportion of cybercrime reports made in the 2020–21 financial year were made from entities or individuals in Queensland and Victoria, accounting for approximately 30 per cent each. While a lower number of reports were made overall, the highest average financial losses were self-reported by victims located in South Australia and Western Australia. Figure 2: Breakdown of cybercrime incidents by assigned jurisdiction for financial year 2020–21 1% 30% 10% 7% 18% 29% 100% 0% 2% 2% Fraud-related cybercrime – where actors use computers or online services to commit fraud – continued to be a prevalent cyber threat to Australians, with this activity accounting for nearly 23 per cent of cybercrime reports (see Figure 3). The cybercrime categories with the most reports were primarily types of cyber-enabled crime, which occur when computers are used to facilitate an existing offence such as online fraud or online child sexual exploitation offences. The top three cybercrime types reported via ReportCyber were: ■ fraud cybercrime – approximately 23 per cent ■ shopping cybercrime – approximately 17 per cent ■ online banking cybercrime – approximately 12 per cent. While the number of ransomware-related cybercrime reports is a relatively small proportion of the total number of cybercrime reports, ransomware remains the most serious cybercrime threat due to its high financial impact and disruptive impacts to victims and the wider community. 16