National Cybersecurity Response Center Agency, New Zealand Business Increases Cyber Defense

New Zealand's Minister of Public Services, Andrew Little (photo: Twitter @AndrewLittleMP ·)

On Wednesday, July 26, New Zealand announced it would increase cyber defenses by establishing a central body to make it easier for people and businesses to seek help when a network intrusion occurs.

The government will merge New Zealand's Computer Emergency Response Team to the National Cybersecurity Center, which is expected to help increase responses to cyber incidents.

"Facing the ever-increasing cybersecurity threat on a scale and complexity, New Zealand needs to set a single agency that gives the authority and handles incidents at any level of threat, which is the best international practice," Public Service Minister Andrew Little said in a statement.

Official data shows that about 5.8 million New Zealand dollars (approximately IDR 54.2 billion) direct financial losses due to cyber incidents were reported in the first quarter of this year, although the government said that the actual scale of losses to the economy may be less reported.

New Zealand experienced a recent increase in online hacking, prompting the country's central bank in May to propose collecting financial data on cyber incidents to better understand cybersecurity risks in the financial sector.

Last month, payment solution provider Smartpay Holdings faced a ransomware attack, becoming the latest cyberattack against companies in New Zealand and its neighbor Australia.