NZ Businesses Warned to Arm Against Cyber Attacks

NZ Businesses Warned to Arm Against Cyber Attacks

30th of June 2017

As another ransomware attack sweeps across the planet and claims the world’s largest advertising firm as its victim, New Zealand businesses are being warned to protect against the growing threat of getting hacked.

British firm WPP, worth many billions of dollars, is the most recent to be hacked by the Petya ransomware. The latest wave follows the WannaCry ransomware attack by just a few weeks.

Boutique Auckland SEO and inbound marketing agency Inbound says this needs to be a wake up call for New Zealand businesses to take the threat of hacking seriously.

“In the past, serious hacks like this have had massive consequences.” Inbound co-founder Steven Male says.

WPP has stakes in, or partnerships with, a large number of high profile media and marketing businesses operating in New Zealand, including Ogilvy, Y&R, Vice Media, and Colmar Brunton.

In turn, those businesses have large corporate and government clients which could have their confidential information at stake due to this latest attack.

“Petya demands money to unlock your information, so it’s possible personal information could be getting sold to others. That’s a massive concern not only for businesses, but for all New Zealanders if it involves government agencies.”

Male says nothing should be more important to businesses than the safety of their clients’ personal data.

Instead of working with one agency (for design, marketing etc.), he recommends working with several firms which hyper-specialise. This ensures not all your data is held by one organisation.

In addition to reducing the vulnerability of keeping data with just one giant agency, Male says the benefits of working with multiple smaller ones ensures you could get even more value for money.

“Smaller agencies can often be better at doing the thing they specialise in than the behemoths are. They work as extension of your team, care about you more, and are less expensive.”

And smaller agencies are too small for hackers to target, he jokes.

ENDS

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