New Zealand announced on Wednesday it will bolster its defenses by setting up a lead cyber agency. By bringing New Zealand’s Computer Emergency Response Team into its National Cyber Security Centre, the government hopes businesses and citizens will find it easier to seek cyber assistance.
Public Service Minister Andrew Little stated that New Zealand is facing frequent cyber attacks that are increasingly sophisticated. Little reaffirmed that merging the country’s cyber defense capabilities into one organization will streamline incident response. New Zealand conservatively reported around 3.68 million USD worth of direct losses due to cyber incidents in the first quarter of 2023. The country’s central bank began collecting financial data on cyber incidents in May in response to a rise in online theft. Smartpay Holdings, a payment solutions provider in Australia and New Zealand, suffered a ransomware attack last month. Officials hope increasing data collection and cooperation with the private sector will halt the rise in cyber incidents.
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