Why complexity is creating blind spots in Australian cyber security

Australian organisations are spending more on cyber security than ever, yet many can’t see where the risks really lie. The culprit is complexity: fragmented vendor ecosystems, cloud environments that change daily and overlapping tools that create blind spots.

With 46% of organisations now moving toward integrated technology solutions,¹ what’s needed is a structured approach that restores visibility and turns overwhelming complexity into manageable protection.

More tools, less visibility

Throwing more money at cyber security doesn’t automatically make you more secure. In fact, 88% of Australian CIOs report cybersecurity will remain their top technology investment in 2025.² Yet many still can’t get a clear picture of what’s happening across their environments.

The problem isn’t the tools themselves – it’s that they might not be integrated or coordinated together. Every additional security tool, vendor and cloud platform adds another layer to an already complex puzzle. What starts as a sensible response to emerging threats – add more detection tools, plug another gap – slowly builds into a fragmented maze where threats hide in the spaces between systems.

Two big blind spots – both getting worse

Vendor sprawl and alert overload

The average organisation now uses 130 different software applications, up from 16 just a few years ago.³ Each vendor brings their own dashboards, their own alerts and their own way of doing things. Security teams spend their days switching between systems, trying to piece together a coherent view from dozens of disconnected data streams.

Constantly changing cloud environments

Modern cloud systems change constantly as workloads spin up and down, connections evolve and applications scale. By the time you’ve mapped and protected your environment, it’s already different.

The danger is that attackers look for connections between systems to move laterally and probe the gaps. They hide in the complexity. Security teams, meanwhile, are trying to monitor everything with tools that can’t talk to each other and alerts that don’t connect the dots.

Why this matters beyond security teams

Without the full picture, the risks compound across the organisation.

Compliance gets harder

How do you demonstrate consistent security controls across all environments when you’re not entirely sure what’s connected to what? Regulatory frameworks like the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SOCI) and the Privacy Act’s data breach notification requirements necessitate consistent controls – whether your environment is simple or complex.

Innovation slows down

When every new application or cloud service adds to the confusion, sensibly cautious leaders start saying no to enhancements that could drive growth and efficiency. The cloud was supposed to enable agility, but without clear visibility, it becomes another source of risk that needs to be managed.

Costs compound

You’re spending more on security tools, but also on the people to manage them, the time to coordinate between vendors and the operational overhead of maintaining dozens of separate systems. And if something does go wrong, the average cost of a cyber incident for medium businesses now sits at $97,200 – and that’s just the direct costs4. When security is fragmented across multiple vendors, there’s often no clear owner to coordinate the response.

Get protected, stay protected, don't get caught out

That’s why Nexon developed a structured cyber security approach built around three clear stages.

Get protected

Establishing the right foundation – putting core security controls in place that work together rather than creating more complexity. For example, endpoint protection, email security and incident response capabilities that integrate rather than operate in isolation.

Stay protected

Maintaining that protection as your environment evolves. This means keeping security infrastructure current, regularly scanning for vulnerabilities and having access to threat intelligence relevant to your organisation.

Don't get caught out

Testing your defences, training your people and planning for the risks you haven’t thought of yet. This includes security assessments that reveal your blind spots, penetration testing to validate your controls and strategic security guidance available when you need it.

You don’t need to own and operate every piece of the security stack yourself. Just as you use managed services for other operational systems, your security infrastructure can benefit from expert oversight and coordinated response.

Start where you are now

You don’t need to start from scratch. Step one is understanding where your blind spots are and what’s creating them. Focus on simplifying what you have, integrating systems that need to work together, closing gaps and restoring visibility across your environment.

The organisations that get this right will be the ones that can confidently answer the question every board member should be asking: do we really understand the risk and exposure in our environment? Because if you can’t see it, you can’t protect it.