New Zealand will run its first full-scale national cyber security exercise this November – almost a year after it was first scheduled.
The delay was prompted by the country’s 2017 change of government, according to Paul Blowers, chief information security officer for New Zealand Police and the orchestrator of the exercise which has been two years in the making.
Speaking at the Gartner security and risk management summit in Sydney, Blowers stressed the importance of national security tests, citing New Zealand’s broadcasting, communications and digital media minister Clare Curran, who warned that advanced cyber threats have the potential to cause NZ$640m of harm annually to New Zealand organisations of national significance.
According to Blowers, one of the goals of the exercise is to test the cyber resilience of New Zealand, and assess how well the multiple agencies involved with cyber security work together and communicate.
New Zealand is growing its investment in cyber security tools and services at a faster rate than Australia at present, according to Gartner.
The technology research firm said that worldwide cyber security spending will rise 12.4% this year to…
