Artificial intelligence is making cybercrime more sophisticated and scams harder to detect, one of Australia’s leading security experts has warned in Hobart.
Darren Kane, chief security officer at nbn, delivered the message as closing keynote speaker at the TasICT-AISA Cyber Security Conference on Wednesday.
He has spent more than a decade protecting Australians from cybercrime and currently leads security for one of Australia’s largest telecommunications utilities.
Kane said the growth of digital services had created enormous opportunities alongside serious security challenges.
“The rise of artificial intelligence as a tool is supercharging both the opportunities and the threats,” he said.
“It is enabling cyber criminals to operate at greater scale and making scams more convincing and harder to detect.”
He said the quality of fraudulent communication had “increased dramatically” as AI technologies operate at speed and scale.
While Scamwatch data shows Tasmanians lost $2.47 million to scammers in 2025 – down more than 52% from $5.16 million in 2024 – Kane warned the threat is far from over.
“Scammers treat people as numbers,” he said.
“They use robocalls, mass text messages, fake emails and scripted approaches.”
He urged Australians to “stop, check and ask questions” when something seems off.
Kane said no organisation was safe from being targeted, regardless of size or location.
“No business is too small to be targeted,” he said.
“Every organisation, regardless of size or function, now must think about cyber security and take practical steps to protect its systems, data and client data.”
Now in its fifth year, the conference has grown into Tasmania’s largest technology event, attracting more than 550 attendees from government, business and the tech sector.
More than 35 specialist technology and cyber security organisations took part.
TasICT chief executive Russell Kelly said the event showed the importance of Tasmania’s technology sector.
“The strong attendance and depth of expertise demonstrates the scale of Tasmania’s technology sector and the growing role it plays in supporting our economy, government services and community,” he said.
