Data Landscape: a closer look at our numbers

• Incidents and referrals
• Breakdown by incident category
• Breakdown of scams and fraud incidents
• Breakdown of incidents affecting individuals
• Breakdown of incidents affecting organisations
• Breakdown of reported vulnerabilities
• Demographics: Reporting by sector
• Demographics: Reporting by age
• Impacts: Direct financial loss
• Impacts: Types of loss
• About our information
• Incident categories we use

Incidents and referrals

Between 1 July and 30 September 2024, a total of 1,905 incidents were reported to the NCSC through the CERT NZ reporting tool.

Of these:             

• 1221 (64%) were responded to directly by NCSC
• 590 (31%) were referred to New Zealand Police
• 41 (2.2%) were referred to the New Zealand Telecommunications Forum (TCF)
• 33 (1.7%) were referred to the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA)
• 15 (<1%) were referred to the Commerce Commission
• 3 (<1%) were referred to Consumer Protection NZ
• 2 (<1%) were referred to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC)

Breakdown by incident category

The number of incidents reported in Q3 went up in most categories. We saw significant change of Unauthorised Access nearly doubling (80% increase) from 167 in Q2 to 300 in Q3. There was an increase in the number of reports of Scams and Fraud from 434 in Q2 to 596 in Q3. 

Phishing and Credential Harvesting remains the most commonly reported incident category. 

We define all the incident categories in the appendix of this report – incident categories we use.

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Breakdown of scams and fraud incidents

Of the incidents responded to during Q3 2024, 31% (596) were about Scams and Fraud. This incident category consistently features in the top three reported to CERT NZ. 
During Q3, CERT NZ received 284 reports on scams involving Buying, Selling or Donating Goods, a 50% increase from 189 in Q2. Incidents relating to Extortion/Blackmail Scams increased in Q3 with 72 reports received compared to the 46 incidents reported in Q2.

Incidents affecting individuals

In Q3 2024, 1277 (67%) incidents were reported as affecting individuals. 
The largest category affecting individuals this quarter is Scams and Fraud which accounts for nearly half (44%) of the individual reports.

The number of Unauthorised Access reports increased from 153 in Q2 to 251 in Q3 – a 64% increase. This category also accounted for more than half of of the reported financial loss this quarter, accounting for $3.3M in loss.

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Incidents affecting organisations

In Q3 2024, 122 (6%) incidents reported to the NCSC specified that they affected organisations, compared with 72 (6%) in Q2 2024. 
Phishing and Credential Harvesting continues to be the largest category of incidents reported to us by organisations, accounting for 37% of incidents affecting organisations during Q3 2024.

Breakdown of reported vulnerabilities

A vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or an online service that can be exploited to allow access to information or damage a system. Early discovery of vulnerabilities means they can be addressed to prevent future incidents.
The NCSC receives and passes on vulnerability reports to affected organisations. We received 15 vulnerability reports in Q3 2024, down 6% from the previous quarter.

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Demographics: Reporting by sector

One in every six incidents reported as affecting organisations were from the Retail, Trade and Accommodation sector. Health Care and Social Assistance was the second most affected sector, followed by Construction and Financial and Insurance Services. 

Demographics: Reporting by age

Of the 1,905 incidents reported to the NCSC during Q3, 63% provided their date of birth. These numbers now include incidents where there was no money loss.

The highest number of incidents reported were by those in the age group 35-44. 

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Impact: Direct financial loss

Direct financial losses totalled $5.5 million in Q3 2024, decreasing by 19% compared to last quarter. 
There were 470 incidents reported to the NCSC during Q3 2024 that reported a financial loss and indicated the loss amount, this increased by 40% from last quarter (336). 

Of the incidents that reported a loss value, 58% (274) were below $500, compared to 55% (186) in the previous quarter. For three quarters in a row the percentage below $500 has decreased. 11 incidents reported losses of $100,000 and over.
Of the 11 incidents responded to during Q3 2024 involving losses of $100,000 or more:

• four related to Unauthorised Access,
• three related to Cryptocurrency Scams,
• two related to Buying, Selling or Donating Goods,
• one related to a scam due to Job, Business, or Investment Opportunity, and
• one that fell into the Other category.

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About our information 

Incident categories