NetSafe is running New Zealand’s second annual Cyber Security Awareness Week (CSAW) from 27-31 May 2013, directly following on from the events and activities in Australia.
We will be promoting free advice and information with the help of our programme sponsors and committed industry partners to consumers and small businesses.
This awareness project is part of the government’s Cyber Security Strategy published in 2011.
More and more people Kiwis make use of internet technologies and use computer systems as part of their everyday lives for work and play.
It’s estimated that more than 2000 adult New Zealanders are affected by cyber crime every day in the form of computer viruses and malware, credit card fraud, online scams, phishing and identity theft:
- The average loss reported to NetSafe’s Orb website (www.theorb.org.nz) in 2012 was almost $4000*.
- The average security incident reported by businesses to the 2010 NZ Computer Crime and Security Survey was $15,000.
And figures released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in February this year show that Kiwis lost close to four million dollars to scams in 2012 with much of that taking place online.
The national awareness raising programme kicks off on Monday 27 May and will be launched by Minister Amy Adams in Wellington. See the full calendar of events we have planned.
NetSafe is promoting the ‘Tight Five’ of computer security for 2013
There’s strength in numbers – at the heart of the scrum sits the tight 5, the powerhouse of the pack, the driving force that gets you over the line.
To achieve your own computer security goals you need your own tight 5.
Take the time to educate yourself about these five computer security activities and you’ll help protect your home devices or small business systems from common cyber incidents:
- Think before you click
Think twice before clicking on links in suspicious phishing emails, don’t give out personal information and avoid rogue online shopping sites - Update everything
Make sure your operating system and all software is up to date including common helper programs such as Java, Adobe Reader and Flash - Back up your files
Make several copies of important data and store it in several locations – including online ‘in the cloud’ – so you’re prepared should the worst to happen to your computer - Use a secure wireless network
Choose a strong encryption setting and long passphrase for your router to avoid eavesdropping, hacking and freeloaders using your bandwidth. - Use strong passwords
Aim for 15 characters and a mix of lower and upper case letters and symbols. Don’t share them and change them regularly.
A call for partners
If you’re interested in partnering for CSAW 2013 contact us today to find out how you can support your staff and customers and encourage everyone to do their bit to improve NZ’s overall online security.
It’s free to join in and we can send you resources to distribute and offer advice on educating the people who matter to you.