New Zealanders’ Security Concerns Reach New Peak

New Zealanders’ Security Concerns Reach New Peak – Unisys Security Index™ Finds

Identity theft, credit card fraud and natural disasters are top concerns for Kiwis

WELLINGTON, 27 June, 2017 – The New Zealand public’s concern about security issues is the highest it has been in the last decade – according to the 2017 Unisys Security Index™.

The overall Unisys Security Index for New Zealand is 154 out of 300, up from 137 compared to the last survey in 2014. It is the highest index since the research was first conducted in New Zealand in 2006. New Zealand recorded the ninth highest index of the 13 countries surveyed.

The Unisys Security Index is a global study that gauges the attitudes of consumers on a wide range of issues related to national, personal, financial and Internet security. The survey polled 1,012 adults in New Zealand during April 2017. The 13 countries surveyed are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, UK and U.S.

Top concerns for Kiwis:

The top two security concerns for New Zealanders are:

• Identity Theft: 55 percent of New Zealanders are extremely or very concerned about unauthorised access to, or misuse of, personal information.
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• Bank Card Fraud: 54 percent of New Zealanders are similarly concerned about other people obtaining or using their credit/debit card details.

“More than half of New Zealanders are seriously concerned about identity theft and credit card/debit fraud. Identity is fundamental to addressing both of these issues. Anchoring our identity with secure multifactor authentication (including biometrics) provides a strong deterrent to unauthorised people accessing our personal information, our finances and the IT systems we depend upon,” said John Kendall, director of border and national security programs, Unisys.

“Banks, retailers and governments wanting to move more of their transactions online can use innovative security measures as a point of difference and position themselves as safe organisations to do business with – not only in terms of preventing data breaches, but also in terms of minimising the impact on customers in a world where breaches are inevitable. Many banks already do this well, setting an example for retailers and government agencies to follow,” said Mr Kendall.

The biggest jump in security concern for Kiwis is related to natural disasters, with 51 percent concerned about a serious event such as an earthquake, flood or epidemic occurring in New Zealand – up from 39 percent in 2014. It is the third highest concern for New Zealanders.

“The high level of concern regarding natural disasters is not surprising for New Zealand, but even here digital technology can help address this concern. Our increasingly interconnected digital world also enables the development of ‘smart cities’ with interconnected and intelligent infrastructure that automatically detect, predict and respond to issues by initiating maintenance or redirecting traffic flow. In New Zealand where natural disasters from earthquakes to destructive weather are a very real and regular threat, there is a huge opportunity to harness these intelligent systems to predict and manage responses to better protect citizens and minimise impacts,” said Mr Kendall.

Demographic Differences:

Women are more concerned than men (index for women is 159 vs 149 for men), particularly for national security and natural disasters.

Young people aged 18-24 years are the most concerned age group (index of 169), with concern steadily dropping as age increases (down to an index of 142 for 45-54 year olds). Kiwis aged 45-54 years are the least concerned age group.

The results for New Zealand are fairly consistent across the North and South Islands.

Global comparisons:

“The increase in the Unisys Security Index for New Zealand reflects the global trend where all but one of the countries involved in the last round of the survey in 2014 recorded increases,” said Mr Kendall.

“While the emerging markets of Philippines, Mexico, Malaysia, Brazil and Argentina recorded the highest index scores, the biggest increases are in the mature markets of Netherlands, Australia, U.S. and UK where concerns regarding digital security are top of mind. To protect fragile consumer trust in today’s digital economy, organisations have to assume that they will eventually be breached and take immediate steps to minimise and contain the impact on themselves and their customers in order to gain and maintain that trust,” he said.

Download the full report of New Zealand results and infographic here

About the Unisys Security Index

Unisys has conducted the Unisys Security Index – the only recurring snapshot of security concerns conducted globally – since 2007 in order to provide an ongoing, statistically-robust measure of concern about security. The index is a calculated score out of 300 covering changing consumer attitudes over time across eight areas of security in four categories: national security and disaster/epidemic, in the National Security category; bankcard fraud and financial obligations, in the Financial Security category; viruses/hacking and online transactions, in the Internet Security category; and identity theft and personal safety, in the Personal Security category. The 2017 Unisys Security Index is based on online surveys conducted between April 6-18, 2017 of nationally representative samples of at least 1,000 adults in each of the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, the U.S. and the UK. The margin of error at a country level is +/-3.1 percent at 95 percent confidence level, and 0.9 percent at a global level. For more information on the 2017 Unisys Security Index, visit (www.unisys.com/unisys-security-index/newzealand)

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