The Government has released New Zealand's cyber security strategy 2019, with the catchline "Enabling New Zealand to thrive online".

The strategy says cyber-enabled threats to our security continue to grow in number, scope and scale.

"Cyber criminals and malicious state-backed actors are targeting New Zealand now. Access is being sought to our personal information, bank accounts, intellectual property and nationally important data on a 24/7 basis. From home-users to businesses, to government to critical national infrastructure, everyone using the internet faces a constant and evolving threat."

The 2019 vision

New Zealand has issued two previous cyber security strategies, in 2011 and 2015. The 2019 strategy says it has a vision that New Zealand is confident and secure in the digital world.

"It is about enabling New Zealand to thrive online. We want New Zealanders to make the most of the opportunities provided by an increasingly connected world, without suffering harm or loss. The vision acknowledges that while connectivity brings risks, we can take action to minimise those risks, and that connectivity has become vital for New Zealand’s society and economy.

"It is an opportunity for the New Zealand Government to take a lead in responding to cyber risks but also for us to achieve this vision as a nation. One of the priority areas in this strategy is to develop cyber security aware and active citizens. There are actions we can take collectively to reduce the risk for everyone, and responding to emerging issues requires everyone to take action: individuals, businesses, non-government organisations, and government. This strategy outlines the areas in which we will prioritise action and how we will work together."

Five priority areas

The strategy sets out five priority areas for action to deliver the vision in the period from 2019 to 2023:

• Cyber security aware and active citizens.
• Resilient and responsive New Zealand.
• Strong and capable cyber security workforce and ecosystem.
• Proactively tackle cybercrime.
• Internationally active.

It says to deepen collaboration and to take effective collective action in each of these areas the Government will work in a way that:

• builds and maintains trust;
• is people-centric, respectful and inclusive;
• balances risk with being agile and adaptive;
• uses our collective strengths to deliver better results and outcomes;
• is open and accountable.