Invest more in cyber security as incidents are on the rise – PwC Herald Talks

The business community should share security threat incidents to build knowledge about the growing number of breaches, said Adrian Van Hest, PwC National Cyber Leader and panellist at the PwC Herald Talks cyber security event, on 24 February.

“I think the challenge is we don't have a lot of data on New Zealand cyber-attacks so there is a perception that we have had less incidents so there are less risks, which is not the case,” said Adrian Van Hest.

Fellow panellist Hon Amy Adams said that two-thirds of incoming emails contain content that could pose a security risk according to data collected by the Government. She went on to say that she disagreed with mass trawling of data, but said when a situation arose where a search warrant was produced, companies have to cooperate.

PwC Herald Talks keynote speaker Garry Barnes, Vice President of ISACA, said while technology can deliver value to businesses, it could also create risk. Security on mobile devices lagged behind other devices for example. "Organisations need to understand the value of their critical assets to themselves and to the attacker," Garry Barnes said.

Michael Brick, Legal Counsel for Microsoft New Zealand said, “It’s critical for tech companies to work hand in hand with law enforcement. Our bottom line is there really needs to be transparency”. Microsoft publishes the number of requests for user information from law enforcement officials around the world.

Personal information is worth a lot of money for hackers who sell it on the Dark Web, said Michael Brick. Currently health data, which can be used for insurance fraud, was worth ten times more than credit card information.

Barbara Chapman, ASB CEO, said the bank's advice to customers was to keep vigilant by remembering the basics in personal security, including never giving passwords out, but to leave anything more serious to security experts.

Seventy-seven per cent of CEO’s are concerned about cyber security as a threat to business growth, up from sixty-six per cent from last year, according to PwC’s Annual CEO Survey.

Adrian Van Hest said New Zealand needs to be like the rest of the world and invest more in cyber security.  Internationally there have been many hurtful incidents and New Zealand should learn from these examples, as well as sharing information about local attacks.

The next PwC Herald Talks event on 18 May will focus on innovation, and tickets will be available from iTicket.

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