Financial losses from NZ cybercrime rise to $6.8m in Q224

Financial losses due to cybercrime in New Zealand increased notably during the second quarter of 2024, as revealed by data from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

New Zealanders reported a total of NZD $6.8 million in losses to cybercrime between 1 April and 30 June 2024. A significant portion of this amount, totalling NZD $5.5 million, stemmed from 11 large incidents where each reported loss exceeded NZD $100,000.

The NCSC highlighted a concerning rise in losses specifically due to unauthorised access incidents, which amounted to NZD $3.6 million for this quarter. Michael Jagusch, NCSC Director of Mission Enablement, elaborated on the severity of such incidents. "Unauthorised access is a serious type of incident," said Jagusch. "Because attackers are inside your systems and can potentially commit crimes without being detected. We're urging organisations to check out OwnYourOnline.govt.nz for guidance and easy steps to help mitigate against these attacks."

In total, the NCSC received 1,203 incident reports in the second quarter of 2024, representing a 22% decrease from the first quarter of the same year and a 38% decline when compared to the second quarter of 2023. This decline was most notable in the category of Phishing and Credential Harvesting, which experienced a 31% drop from the first quarter of 2024.

The financial impact of these incidents remains significant. "Bad actors will try to exploit every tool to their advantage," Jagusch noted. "They're always coming up with new and inventive ways to steal money and information, and it's our job to help you stay one step ahead of them with simple steps and guidance."

The report also shed light on various tools that online criminals are using to execute their scams and cyber attacks. Among these are email spoofing, Rich Communication Services, and progressive web apps, all employed to disguise attacks while attempting to obtain personal and financial information from unsuspecting victims.

Despite the decline in the overall number of incident reports, the monetary losses reported have increased. The NZD $6.8 million loss reported in Q2 2024 represented a 3% increase from the NZD $6.6 million in Q1 2024 and a significant 61% increase from the NZD $4.2 million reported in Q2 2023. The rise in unauthorised access losses was particularly dramatic, climbing from NZD $390,000 in the first quarter to NZD $3.6 million in the second quarter.

The NCSC compiled these insights from confidential reports submitted to CERT NZ by both individuals and businesses. According to the NCSC, all incident details remain confidential, and no identifying information about the reports will be shared.