'Skilling up': Australia a more recognised cybercrime source
Australia is becoming a more recognised source of cybercrime, new data from UNSW Canberra research shows.
Published on the 02 April 2025 by Kyle Mackey-Laws
Australia is becoming a more recognised source of cybercrime, new data from UNSW Canberra research shows.
The World Cybercrime Index, opens in a new window maps the global geography of cybercrime, looking at the level of cybercrime activity within each country’s borders, and the impact, technical skill and professionalism connected to this activity.
Dr Miranda Bruce, a lecturer in cyber security at the UNSW Canberra School of Professional Studies, worked with academics at the University of Oxford’s Department of Sociology, opens in a new window to create the index, which surveys the world’s top experts in cybercrime investigations, attribution and intelligence.
Dr Bruce first conducted the research in 2021, with key takeaways from the index suggesting cybercriminal activity is not evenly distributed across the globe; hotspots are numerous and diverse; and countries tend to specialise in specific types of cybercrime.
Australia ranked 34th out of 97 countries in 2021. That position has since risen to 27th in the 2023 index.
Dr Bruce and her colleagues targeted cybercrime experts with more than five years' experience, who were still active or very recently retired, worked in government or private industry, and had an excellent reputation among their peers. 92 experts participated in the index in 2021, and 91 participated in 2023.
The impact of these schemes is significantly higher, and the professionalism and technical skills ... have risen significantly.
Although Australia was nominated as a significant hotspot for cybercrime in both waves of the survey, it is a small player compared to other countries. It was only nominated 8 times in 2021 and 10 times in 2023, out of a possible 460. In comparison, Russia – the top country in both years – was nominated more than 300 times.
Despite having a relatively low level of cybercriminal activity within its borders, Australia has gone up across the board – one of only a few Asian nations to do that, Dr Bruce said.
“Even though some countries are going down, the overall criminality of the Asia Pacific region appears to be going up, according to the experts.”
Interestingly, Dr Bruce says the type of cybercrime Australia specialises in has changed in the two years between studies.
“We’re seeing a bit of a skilling up. Scams and money laundering schemes - which don't require a lot of technical skill - are still our top types of cybercrime.
“But the impact of these schemes is significantly higher, and the professionalism and technical skill associated with cashing out money laundering schemes in particular have risen significantly.
“This perspective comes from a few experts, so it's not a consensus, but it shows that Australia is starting to be seen as a more significant hotspot.”
Dr Miranda Bruce presents her research at the AIC 2025 Conference in Canberra.
Irene Dowdy/Australian Institute of Criminology
While victimisation rates are not included in Dr Bruce’s study, Australia continues to be a target for cybercrime too, with Australia’s digitisation of essential services, as well as a growing vulnerable population helping the nation be one of the most targeted populations in the world per capita.
Dr Bruce presented the 2023 data at the Australian Institute of Criminology Conference, opens in a new window in Canberra last month.
She said socioeconomic factors could be a key reason as to why Australia has become a more active hot spot for cybercrime.
"Australia has high levels of governance and increasingly stringent cyber security measures,” she said.
“However, socioeconomic factors in Australia might be causing existing offenders to scale up and improve their skills.
“The type of cybercrime we look at is economically motivated. I would think worsening socioeconomic conditions, combined with high levels of technical education, make it more possible and more reasonable for people to engage in this activity. That for me is the key takeaway.”
- Dr Bruce will release the 2023 World Cybercrime Index data later this year.