Successful mass cyber security uplift for major NZ organisations

21 October 2021 – Numerous NZ universities and polytechs, central govt agencies councils and health care providers have undergone a seamless, behind the scenes cyber security uplift, bolstering the country’s protections against cyber-attacks.

Earlier this year, global enterprise software provider, TechnologyOne, quietly upgraded all its NZ Software as a Service (SaaS) Platform customers to the latest version of its SaaS Platform which has been engineered to meet the stringent Australian Federal Government IRAP PROTECTED security classification level. This has automatically provided an across-the-board boost at no additional cost.

The mass uplift comes at an important time for NZ, with *1431 cyber security incidents, costing victims a total of $3.M reported to CERT in the first quarter of 2021.

According to Ed Chung CEO of TechnologyOne, the security uplift is part of an ongoing strategy to ensure customers stay ahead of the obligations set out by the NZ Government’s ‘Protective Security Requirements’ along with the New Zealand Information Security Manual (NZ ISM).

“As a result of the increasingly dangerous cybersecurity climate for public sector institutions, TechnologyOne undertook significant engagement with customers and stakeholders across NZ, Australia, and the UK to understand their concerns, risks and requirements.

“In response, we have completed a significant architectural redesign of security in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), and the benefits have automatically been provided to all NZ customers using our SaaS platform at no cost.

“As well as being more efficient and cost effective, the advantage of a strong SaaS platform is that everyone benefits from the protections – whether they are a large government agency or a smaller health and community services provider.

“Local government for example, are exposed to the same risks and threats as their peers in Central Government, but often have fewer resources to mitigate them.

“We’re incredibly proud that following this security uplift, 12 NZ councils using our SaaS platform have the peace of mind that they are serving the community with bolstered cyber security protections, and our customers tell us that they are very relieved they aren’t facing these risks on their own.

“While this upgrade enables all customers to meet and comply with local jurisdictional and regulatory obligations, it’s critical that no one becomes complacent. It’s vital we continually strive to raise the security standards of our systems to match the ever-increasing cyber-threat landscape,” Mr Chung said.

According to TechnologyOne, the recent architectural redesign ensures customers

• can safely and securely interact with their data to facilitate digital transformation upgrades;
• get ahead of the next series of global security and compliance standard uplifts that are currently underway; and
• meet the most stringent government and jurisdictional policies and standards

Mr Chung said major economic research, commissioned by TechnologyOne showed that in addition to a heightened cyber security posture, significant economic benefits can be realised if more major sectors including government, higher education, health, and financials, moved to software as a service, or SaaS.

“The economic research showed that Australia would see a $224 Billion boost to the economy over the next ten years if more organisations moved to SaaS. New Zealand could be in line for a similar boost if they move away from out-of-date legacy systems and on to SaaS – the potential is too big to ignore,” he said.

Earlier this year in April, TechnologyOne and the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) announced a new procurement framework to pave the way for 23 NZ government agencies to transition to modern and secure Software-as-a- Service (SaaS) environments.

*Source: CERT NZ Quarterly Report March 2021