Title: Report: Majority of New Zealanders exposed to cyber crime
Author: IT
Brief New Zealand
Date: 05.04.2020
Abstract:
More than
a third of Kiwis have experienced a cyber crime incident in the past 12 months,
according to new research.
The
NortonLifeLock Cyber Safety Insights Report found 1.2 million New Zealanders
(36%) are estimated to have experienced cyber crime in 2019. On top of that,
almost 5.4 million hours or an average of 4.3 hours per victim were spent
resolving issues created by the crime.
Close to
a third of New Zealand cyber crime victims (30%) were impacted financially with
an estimated loss of NZ$108 million in the past year, the report found.
According
to the research, one in six New Zealand adults have experienced identity theft.
More than 605,000 New Zealand adults (17%) experienced identity theft, with 5%
impacted in 2019. ore than half of Kiwis (56%), whether they have experienced
identity theft or not, said they very worried that their identity will be
stolen.
Fifty
percent of respondents to the research said they felt they are well-protected
against ID theft occurring, however two thirds (67%) said they would have no
idea what to do if their identity were stolen, while and 85% wish they had more
information on what to do if their identity were stolen.
"What
we are seeing is New Zealanders who have historically taken a 'she'll be right
attitude' are increasingly aware of the chance of identity theft, but don't
know what to do if it does happen, and they're desperate for more
information," comments Mark Gorrie, territory manager and cyber security
expert, APJ, NortonLifeLock.
The
report found that distrust among New Zealand consumers towards social media
providers outpaced the global average (54% do not trust at all vs. 43% global
average). However, compared to those in other markets, more New Zealand
respondents trust healthcare providers (94% trust a lot/a little vs. 89% global
average) and the government (84% trust a lot/a little vs. 72% global average)
when it comes to managing and protecting personal information.
Less
than half of New Zealand consumers give credit to companies (40%) or the
government (46%) for doing enough when it comes to data privacy and protection,
the report says. And, almost half (46%) believe that New Zealand is behind most
other countries when it comes to data privacy laws.
"Once
the Privacy Bill comes into force, New Zealanders may begin to feel
differently," says Gorrie.
"Once
enacted, the Privacy Bill should put the onus on businesses to ensure they're
keeping personal information safe and secure".
Under
the proposed new regulations, New Zealand businesses must report serious data breaches
to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. Businesses also must provide the
personal information held on an individual back to that individual if they ask
for it.
"An
important part of the bill requires overseas service providers, like social
media or cloud software companies, to also comply with the new laws,"
Gorrie adds.
The
report found New Zealanders are split on who should be held most responsible
for ensuring personal information and data privacy are protected. Nearly 4 in
10 (38%) believe the government should be held most responsible, while
one-third (33%) put the burden on companies, followed closely by individual
consumers (29%) who should be protecting their own data privacy by
reading the policies and ensuring their personal information is shared only
with companies they trust.
The
majority of New Zealand adults (86%) believe consumers should always read
companies privacy policies in full but a mere 2% report always doing so
themselves, the report shows. Only 9% say they do it often. In fact, New
Zealanders are among the most likely to rarely/never read privacy policies (56%
vs. 47% global average).
According
to the research, most of the New Zealanders who do not always read privacy
policies in full say its because they are too confusing (80% vs. 735 global
average), and they feel they have no choice but to accept the policies in order
to use the app or service (86% vs. 78% global average). And 9 out of 10 (89%)
say that they would be more willing to read privacy policies if they were given
choices about how their personal information could or couldn't be used; this is
even more persuasive for adults in New Zealand than many other markets (82%
global average).
As
security measures in public spaces increase, facial recognition technology is
becoming more common place, according to the report. New Zealand consumers are
among the most familiar with facial recognition (64% vs. 52% global average),
second only to India (70%) and on par with the United States (64%).
Despite
familiarity with the technology, skepticism remains. The majority of New
Zealand consumers (66%) believe facial recognition will be abused or misused in
the next year above the global average of 62%.
The
report suggests New Zealanders overwhelmingly believe businesses (93%) and the
government (92%) should be required to inform and report where or when they are
using facial recognition well above the global averages (87 and 86%
respectively). Specifically, the top concern among New Zealand consumers when
it comes to facial recognition is the ability for cyber criminals to access
and/or manipulate their facial recognition data and steal their identity
(41%).
"The
NortonLifeLock Cyber Safety Insights Report brings to light the trends we've
been seeing in New Zealand over the past year," Gorrie says.
"People
are becoming more aware of their presence online and the value of their
personal data. It's not enough to simply have anti-virus software installed on
a laptop anymore. It's critical that any cyber security plan designed to
protect you and your family is comprehensive," he says.