The number of financially motivated cyber incidents across New Zealand has reached a new historic peak.
The National Cyber Security Centre recently published its annual Cyber Threat Report, which found that cyber activities conducted with the intent to steal or extort payment accounted for 28 percent of incidents.
For the first time, financially motivated attacks surpassed state-sponsored incidents, which accounted for only 23 percent of cyber activities in 2023 compared to 34 percent in 2021 and 2022.
Ransomware also remains a threat as cyber activities target organizations in New Zealand and around the world.
“The number of ransomware incidents recorded by the NCSC has remained relatively consistent over the last three years, but the impact to Aotearoa New Zealand has almost certainly increased,” said Lisa Fong, deputy director general at NCSC.
According to Fong, NCSC recorded more than one ransomware incident per month in fiscal 2023. She added that half of cyber incidents were categorized as C3, which indicates as significant.
Overall, the center reported 316 incidents affecting nationally significant organizations, lower than the previous year.
The lower number of cyber incidents is caused by several factors such as disruptions to cyber criminal infrastructure, strengthened organizational cybersecurity and improved ability to disrupt suspicious activity, Fong said.
