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Global cybersecurity companies say New Zealand businesses and organizations are unprepared and overconfident and need to narrow their focus to combat cyber threats.
Cisco's second annual Cybersecurity Readiness Index shows that cyber threats are much bigger than ransomware and phishing, and criminals are increasingly exploiting vulnerabilities in older and common software applications. Masu.
These threats include credential stuffing (using stolen usernames and passwords to access services), supply chain attacks, social engineering (deceiving victims), and cryptojacking (abusing a computer's capabilities to It has spread to other areas such as mining currencies.
The report notes that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and the mainstream availability of capabilities such as generative AI have not only enabled malicious criminals to deploy more sophisticated targeted attacks; , said it also provided smarter defensive tools.
“When we look at AI as an adversary, we must also recognize that it is now fully in our pockets and a tool to protect us,” said Corien Vermaak, Cisco's director of cybersecurity for Australia and New Zealand. It must be done,” he said.
However, the survey found that organizations are struggling to address the growing risks of overly complex security software, with 85% reporting a lack of skilled talent to address the risks.
“But what is more concerning to me is that 42% of organizations report that they currently have more than 10 vacancies,” Vermark said.
“So we don't have enough people and new enemies emerge that really puts us at risk.”
Mr Vermark said New Zealand organizations could improve their responsiveness by focusing on the biggest risks and using fewer tools.
“According to the report, 84% of businesses cite remote login as their top risk factor, so the fact that people can log in from home or a coffee shop is a big concern.”
Focusing on who logs in, where, when, and on which device not only reduces threats, but also reduces the number of skilled personnel needed to manage those risks. She said it would be helpful.
“Currently, 27 percent of respondents said they owned 30 or more cybersecurity tools, and 72 percent said they owned 10 or more. There is a shortage of personnel.”
He said more effective tools are available to address the growing risks posed by AI.
“And modern tools have the ability to do even more.”
She said New Zealand organizations needed to work smarter to catch up with global averages.
The report says New Zealand organizations are below the global average in identity intelligence, network resiliency, machine reliability, cloud hardening and AI hardening.
When assessing global cybersecurity readiness, Cisco rates 3 percent of global responding companies as mature, with nearly three-quarters (71 percent) in the formative (60 percent) and novice ( 11 percent) were in the bottom two categories.
However, only 2 per cent of New Zealand organizations are rated mature, with 20 per cent considered progressive and formative (53 per cent) and a quarter rated as novice. (25 percent).
