New Zealand Unisys Security Index 2019

Unisys surveys reveal how New Zealanders’ security concerns have changed following the Christchurch mosque attacks, with terror attacks now the number one concern among a population that nevertheless remains relatively relaxed about its security.

New research from Unisys Corporation conducted before and after the Christchurch mosque attacks on 15 March reveals that before the attacks New Zealanders had the lowest level of concern about criminal attacks at large events of 13 countries surveyed and ranked war or terrorism as only seventh out of eight types of security concerns.

According to the 2019 Unisys Security Index, New Zealanders’ attitudes toward their security changed immediately after the attacks, with war or terrorism becoming the top security concern for Kiwis for the first time in the 13-year history of the index. The index also revealed a clear public expectation on the role of social media providers to identify and prevent malicious activity.

Conducted globally, the Unisys Security Index measures concerns of consumers on issues related to national, personal, financial and internet security.

Pre-Attack: Cyber threats loom large

In polling conducted two weeks before the Christchurch attack that examined the public’s security concerns at largescale events, such as a rugby match or music festival, New Zealanders were more concerned about theft of credit card data (39 percent seriously concerned) or personal data (38 percent seriously concerned) from a mobile device when using public wi-fi at the event, than a criminal attacking and harming event attendees (35 percent seriously concerned).

Of the 13 countries surveyed, New Zealanders recorded the lowest concern about such criminal attacks.

Post-Attack: Security concerns change

After the attack, more than half of all New Zealanders (51 percent) reported being very or extremely concerned about war or terrorism – up from 29 percent two weeks before the attack. For Christchurch city residents, concern more than doubled (58 percent).

“Clearly our most recent experiences drive our security concerns at a given time. It is no surprise that concern about terrorism in New Zealand has increased,” said Andrew Whelan, Vice President Commercial and Financial Services Sectors at Unisys Asia Pacific.

“While the attacks targeted Muslims as they worshipped, they registered throughout the country as attacks on all New Zealanders and brought the reality of such a threat into our backyard. However, it is important to note that New Zealanders continue to hold a much lower level of concern than most countries – only Germany and the Netherlands are lower.”

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At the end of March, the overall measure of security concerns of the New Zealand public was 143 out of 300, up from 139 two weeks before the attack, which had been relatively unchanged from 138 in 2018. Despite this increase, New Zealand has the third lowest level of concern of the 13 countries – behind the U.S., Australia, Belgium and the U.K. in 7 th , 8 th , 9 th and 10 th positions respectively.

Interestingly, New Zealand’s post- Christchurch peak of 143 is higher than 2019’s pre-Christchurch result of 139 and 2018’s 138, but it remains well below the post-Christchurch earthquake peaks of 141 (2011) and 144 (2012), and 2017’s all-time peak of 154. By contrast, 2019’s Global average score of 175 is the highest in the survey’s history, following year-onyear increases since 2012.

The drop in New Zealand’s score from 2017 to 2018 had largely been driven by a decrease in concern around natural disasters, with 41 percent of those surveyed in 2018 concerned about a serious event such as an earthquake, flood or epidemic occurring in New Zealand – down from 51 percent in 2017.

Public expectations on role of social media

The research also found that a significant majority (80 percent) of New Zealanders believe that it should be the responsibility of social media companies to monitor and remove content that they deem to be hate speech, racist memes, inappropriate comments and malicious or disturbing content. Only 25 percent agreed that New Zealanders should be allowed to post whatever they like on social media.

“New Zealanders reacted strongly to the role social media played in publicising the attacks and helping the gunman achieve his objectives,” said Mr Whelan.

“The Unisys Security Index suggests strong support for governments, regulators and social media giants to come together to create a framework to stop these internet echo chambers from creating an environment that encourages hate and violence. New Zealanders want tangible change to minimise the chance of further violence.”

“With only one in four Kiwis stating they should be allowed to post whatever we like on social media, the research indicates that the public understands that with ‘free speech’ comes responsibility. And the New Zealand public is calling for social media companies to take the same responsibility in working with law enforcement agencies and helping to remove inflammatory content,” he said.

Public supports greater social access for police

More than half (56 percent) of New Zealanders agree that police, law enforcement and other government agencies should be able to access and monitor all social media channels, including private chat groups, in order to identify disturbing content and malicious activities.

“Social media has great value in bringing together people and communities, but other groups, darker in nature, use the same mainstream platforms to promote their causes and lifestyle. Social media platforms enable those groups to be just a few clicks away from our children and those most vulnerable to radicalisation,” said Tim Green, industry manager for Justice, Law Enforcement and Border Security, Unisys Asia Pacific.

“The Unisys Security Index indicates New Zealanders support legislative change and forgoing some privacy on social media to enable police investigations and intelligence operations to prevent the abuse of this technology.”

Security at large events

Following large public attacks around the world in the past year, the survey found a high level of security concern globally among consumers about attending events such as large sporting events or musical festivals.

The interesting ‘large event’ statistic, however, it that respondents are as fearful of having data stolen at large events as they are of being physically harmed. While 57 percent of respondents in the 13 countries surveyed registered serious concern (extremely/very concerned) about falling victim to a physical attack, the same percentage registered serious concern about having their personal data stolen when using public Wi- Fi at a large event.

As a result, 28 percent of respondents globally reported having changed their plans to attend certain large-scale events and 39 percent reported that they would “think twice” about attending.

The 2019 Unisys Security Index is based on national surveys of representative samples of at least 1,000 adult residents aged 18-64 years of age in each of the 13 countries surveyed. Interviews were conducted online between 27 February and 22 March 2019. An additional question about security concerns at mass events was conducted 3 April–12 April 2019 in some countries.

The detailed report is available at www. unisyssecurityindex.co.nz.