The Cybercrime Threat Cybercrime continues to pose a high threat to Australia’s economic and social prosperity, causing wide ranging harms to its victims and broader society, including financial losses, emotional and psychological impacts, and the disruption of essential services. Cybercriminals are resilient, opportunistic and borderless. While cybercriminals are increasingly sophisticated in the way they pursue their illicit activities, advanced and anonymising technologies and darknet marketplaces also mean that less skilled actors can engage in cybercrime. What is cybercrime? Australia defines the term ‘cybercrime’ to describe both:  Cyber-dependent crimes directed at computers or other information communications technologies (ICTs) (such as computer intrusions and denial of service attacks). These crimes did not exist prior to the introduction of computers.  Cyber-enabled crimes (such as online fraud, identity crimes and child sexual exploitation and abuse), which can increase in their scale and/or reach through the use of computers, computer networks or other forms of ICTs. Cyber-dependent crimes consist of conduct that only exists in the digital world, such as cybercriminals hacking networks to steal sensitive personal information or the use of malware (such as ransomware) to extort money from victims. Cyber-enabled crimes are traditional crimes committed in new ways. Communications technologies, platforms and services (such as the internet) provide a pathway to commit crimes such as fraud, identity theft, trafficking in illicit goods, sexual abuse of children, and terrorism on an industrial scale. Cybercriminals can range from individuals to criminal networks through to politically motivated actors. The motivations for cybercrime can vary significantly, including financial gain, interpersonal conflict, causing societal disruption, or gaining a competitive edge, through to being ideologically or politically motivated. Example one: Ransomware and other cyber-dependent crime continues to grow The ACSC assesses cyber-dependent crimes, such as ransomware, financial and other types of malware, and business email compromise, as significant threats facing Australia. The interconnectedness of our modern digital lives enables cyber-dependent attacks to impact systems that underpin the day-to-day functioning of society. Ransomware is one of the most frequently used and damaging types of malware. It causes serious operational, financial and reputational harm to victims and can threaten the security of the broader community. It can affect any organisation, including businesses, educational facilities, hospitals and healthcare providers, government agencies, and non-profit entities. The ACSC Annual Cyber Threat Report assesses that ransomware has grown in impact and remains one of the most disruptive threats to Australian organisations. Almost 500 ransomware-related cybercrime reports were received via the ReportCyber website in the 2020-21 financial year, an increase of nearly 15 per cent over the previous financial year. National Plan to Combat Cybercrime 2022 4