Cybercriminals exploit human vulnerabilities more often than technical flaws. Phishing emails, fake login pages, and social engineering attacks are designed to trick employees into revealing sensitive information or clicking on malicious links. 
 
How to implement this: 
 
- Conduct regular cybersecurity awareness training that teaches employees how to spot phishing attempts, suspicious links, and impersonation scams. 
- Implement simulated phishing exercises to test and improve staff awareness. 
- Encourage a "security-first" culture where employees report anything unusual without fear of blame. 
 
"Security awareness training is really starting to play an important role... businesses are realising how valuable that is." 

Traditional cybersecurity models focus on securing the perimeter of a network, assuming that everything inside is safe. However, modern attacks often come from compromised user accounts, making perimeter defences alone ineffective. Zero Trust Security operates on the principle of "never trust, always verify." 
 
How to implement this: 
 
- Require multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users accessing critical systems. 
- Apply role-based access controls (RBAC) so employees can only access the data necessary for their roles. 
- Continuously monitor user behaviour analytics to detect anomalies, such as login attempts from unusual locations. 
 
By 2025, 80% of businesses are expected to adopt a Zero Trust framework (Gartner, 2023), making it a core cybersecurity standard. 

Cloud-based applications are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals, especially when security misconfigurations leave data exposed. As more businesses move workloads to the cloud, securing cloud access is critical. 
 
How to implement this: 
 
- Use end-to-end encryption to protect sensitive data in transit and at rest. 
- Implement Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solutions, such as HPE Aruba SASE,  which combine network security and cloud security into one framework. 
- Regularly review cloud security settings to ensure public-facing databases and applications are properly restricted. 
 
With New Zealand’s cybersecurity spending projected to rise by 15% annually (IDC, 2023), investing in cloud security is no longer optional—it’s a business necessity. 

Cyberattacks happen fast, and manual responses are too slow to contain them. Modern security threats require real-time monitoring and automated incident response to detect and mitigate attacks before they escalate. 
 
How to implement this: 
 
- Deploy Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools that aggregate and analyse security data for potential threats. 
- Use automated threat detection and response (XDR, MDR, or EDR solutions) to react to attacks immediately. 
- Set up 24/7 security monitoring—either through in-house teams or a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP)—to ensure constant vigilance. 
 
"The tech is smart now—brute force, analyse huge data sets quickly, and run tests efficiently." 

Even with strong defences, no system is immune to breaches. A strong backup and disaster recovery strategy ensures that even if attackers succeed, they don’t win. 
 
How to implement this: 
 
- Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule: Keep three copies of data, on two different media, with one offsite copy. 
- Regularly test disaster recovery and ransomware response plans to ensure your team can restore data quickly after an attack. 
- Implement immutable backups—data copies that cannot be altered or deleted by cybercriminals.