New research shows Aotearoa is getting better at cyber security
Have you recently taken steps to strengthen your online security? If so, you’re one of the many New Zealanders who are now more secure online.
New Zealanders are doing more
If you think you need to take responsibility for your own cyber security, you are among the vast majority (95%) of New Zealanders that think the same. This means Kiwi are doing more to stay secure online. CERT NZ’s latest research* shows the number of people taking the actions it recommends went up significantly in the last year.
Read the CERT NZ 2024 Cyber Security Behaviour Report [PDF 1MB]
"It’s great that New Zealanders are taking action and not relying on luck or common sense to keep them safe," said CERT NZ Senior Threat and Incident Response Coordinator, Sam Leggett.
The research also shows you are twice as likely to act if you've been hit by a cyber attack, but you don’t want to wait for that to happen.
"You wouldn’t wait to experience a crash before putting your seatbelt on, so why wait for cybercrime to happen before taking the steps that can save you?” said Leggett.
The survey showed more New Zealanders are aware of the different types of cybercrime, which means people can spot things like phishing links and scams more easily.
Actions people are taking
These are some of the steps people told us they are taking to strengthen their cyber security:
- verifying links before clicking on them
- keeping social media settings private
- using a password manager
- using two-factor authentication.
Some people are being left behind
But not everyone is on board. The research found almost one in every five of us thinks they will not be affected by cybercrime. You are more likely to think this if you are in a younger age bracket (18-44 year olds).
This age group is also less likely to take actions to be secure online.
"If you are young, you are probably confident online but that might lead to overconfidence when faced with an actual threat. You may also feel you’re already doing enough, or you may simply forget to beef up your cyber security," said Leggett. “We obviously want to change that.”
“We need all New Zealanders to come together to make ourselves even more resilient.”
* The annual online survey interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,023 New Zealanders, aged 18 years and over, between November - December 2023.