Companies are still not spending enough to protect their assets from cyber threats, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

The regulator’s half-year market integrity report – citing findings from a study released last November – shows a disparity across businesses and insufficient investment in cyber resilience.

“Cyber resilience is widely regarded as one of the most significant concerns for the financial markets sector and the economy at large,” ASIC says.

“We will continue to review the technology and operational risk of our stakeholders and focus on malicious cyber crime in the context of rapid technological developments.”

Technology and cyber resilience are among risks ASIC will focus on in the next few months.

The market integrity report covers the six months to December 31.