No-Spin Reality Check – 6 Cyber Risks to tackle before 2026

Ransomware remains one of the most persistent and costly cyber threats, with healthcare among the hardest hit. In Victoria, 15% of public hospitals go offline during one of Australia’s largest ransomware incidents, taking months to recover. Despite this, recovery readiness varies across the state’s 70 health organisations, where ICT and security teams can be collaborative or siloed.

Panellists Jason Murrell, renowned cyber security advocate and consultant, Emily Mailes, Chief eHealth Strategy Officer at VIC Department of Health, Samrat Seal, Head of Transformation and Governance at Kmart Group, Peter Wolski, General Manager, Reliability and Security at MYOB and Tara Dharnikota, CISO at Victoria University, note that tested backups, asset visibility, and network segmentation are still the most effective controls. Threat actors now use ransomware-as-a-service models, professional negotiation tactics, and dual extortion methods that prioritise data theft and public exposure over system lockdowns.

Across sectors such as higher education and retail, resilience…