Search
Close this search box.

We are creating some awesome events for you. Kindly bear with us.

New Zealand Adopts New Mobile Authentication System

New Zealanders who want to keep their mobile phone number when switching providers – known as number porting – will now receive an authentication message through SMS to help prevent fraud.

Number porting fraud has been relatively rare in Aotearoa, with government cybersecurity agency CERT NZ saying less than 10 Kiwis had been hit by the scam before March last year. But because it can give hackers access to so much of the victim’s online life, the impact can be devastating with the average loss worth around USD 20,000.

Once a fraudster has access to the victim’s mobile phone number, they then can take advantage of the two-factor authentication used by online banks to authenticate logins and large money transfers. Now, with the new SMS authentication system, it will alert the user if their mobile provider has received a request to port their phone number and it will highlight that they should contact their mobile provider and bank immediately if they did not request it.

Number porting was put in place in 2007 to make it easy for consumers to retain their existing phone number when changing mobile providers, said the NZ Telecommunications Forum Communications Director. However, as the industry became concerned recently about the potential for fraudsters to exploit the Number Porting process, these new security measures will add another layer of protection for customers.

A more advanced SMS solution, which will require customers to reply to an SMS confirming they want to port their number, is under development and is expected to be rolled out in October 2021.

As reported by OpenGov Asia, the number of cybersecurity attacks being reported in New Zealand is on the rise. The data comes from CERT NZ’s annual summary for 2020, which has been released recently. It showed the agency received nearly 8,000 reports of cybersecurity incidents last year, a 65% increase from the year before.

According to the agency, they are developing a much richer understanding of the types of threats and issues that are affecting New Zealanders, and New Zealand businesses. Phishing and credential harvesting (where an attacker collects personal data) were the most reported form of attacks and were up 76% in 2019. Behind those were scams and fraud reports, which are up by 11%.

According to experts, there are simple things every citizen can do to try and ensure their safety online. The advice nowadays is to make sure that passwords are unique and long. Users can do that easily by looking around the room and naming four random objects they see – a “really good way” of making a unique password. While forgetting passwords is a reason people reuse the same ones again, uniqueness is important so that if you lose a password someone cannot access more of your online accounts.

Another way is two-step or two-factor authentication, which involves a second step to logging in, like an SMS message with a unique code or approving the log in via a third-party app. Experts say that this is beneficial because if a user gets phished (if they accidentally give out their password), someone else needs a second step to access the account.

Phishing is where the attacker sends a fake message designed to trick the victim into revealing sensitive information, like passwords. Even cyber specialists benefit from that added layer of security.

Another would be automatic backups; users must make sure that their phones and other devices are backed up to places like Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive.

Alternatively, citizens like Kiwis in New Zealand can call government organisations like CERT NZ, which supports businesses, organisations and individuals affected by cybersecurity incidents.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.