AI-Powered Social Engineering Heightens Cyber Risks for Australian Financial Sector

Recent insights from CrowdStrike reveal a dramatic shift in cyberattack strategies against the financial services sector, with 81 percent of interactive intrusions being malware-free as of June 2025.

This significant change, amid a 26 percent rise in such intrusions over the past year, highlights the evolving nature of cyber threats where adversaries gain network presence without deploying traditional malware.

While cybercrime continues to be the primary cause of security breaches, a notable 80 percent increase in intrusions linked to nation-state actors signals an expanding threat landscape for financial institutions. Intrusions related to electronic crime also rose by 10 percent year-on-year, indicating persistent vulnerabilities.

Fabio Fratucello, CrowdStrike's Field CTO worldwide, underscored the value financial institutions present to both nation-states and criminals due to the sensitive data and intellectual property they hold. He emphasised that the robust defences at endpoint devices have shifted the attack focus to exploiting human and machine interactions, thereby making identity the new security frontier.

Fratucello explained that adversaries are leveraging generative AI tools to enhance the sophistication of social engineering attacks, rendering them more effective. These AI-crafted intrusions exploit human weaknesses, resulting in a higher click-through rate, a key measure of attack success in cybersecurity. The simulation of human interactions and the pervasive use of identity-based exploitation underline the critical importance of securing identities within organisations.

For Australian financial service firms, the focus must shift towards strengthening identity security. As Fratucello pointed out, businesses need comprehensive detection, response, and prevention strategies to safeguard their cloud environments. Drawing an analogy, he compared this to securing different access points of a house with advanced surveillance and protection mechanisms.

Emphasising a proactive approach, Fratucello advocates for embracing AI as a core defensive technology. By adopting AI-driven security capabilities, organisations can enhance their defensive strategies, improving speed, consistency, and reducing human error. This technological embrace is pivotal for regaining the upper hand against increasingly sophisticated cyber adversaries.

Published:Thursday, 25th Sep 2025
Source: Paige Estritori

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Mortgage:
A loan in which the borrower (the mortgagor) offers a property and land as security to the lender (the mortgagee) until the loan is repaid. Repayments of the loan are usually made on a monthly basis over a long period of time, typically 25 years.