From The Editor

In this issue we’re proud to feature all the winners at this year’s New Zealand Security Industry Awards. We bring to you details on each of the winners, including the reasons why they were selected as the best of the best in 2021! Congratulations to all nominees, finalists and winners!

We also focus in this issue on the topic of fraud. It’s a big topic that appears to have become bigger since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. As our changed circumstances see more and more employees working remotely, and as lockeddown populations transact more than ever online, Covid has provided something of a perfect storm for scammers. 2020 was a bad year for fraud, writes senior editor of ASIS International’s Security Management magazine Megan Gates, who notes that fraud incidents remain woefully un-investigated and staggeringly unreported. In her first article in NZSM, Sue Trezise Director of Sue-lutions Ltd provides fraud risk insights from the New Zealand Office of the Auditor General (OAG) and Victorian Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC).

We also feature recent news from the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), which is warning New Zealanders to be on the lookout for three unique types of scams that have been on the rise since the start of COVID-19. Complaints about investment scams and fraud lodged with the regulator in the first half of this year were up 79 percent on the same period in 2020.

Andrea Babbs, UK General Manager, VIPRE SafeSend, reminds us that reliance on email is a big cyber security risk – and not just due to the increasing frequency and sophistication of attacks. With the volume of emails sent and received every day, mistakes are inevitable, and organisations need to look at this non-malicious yet very real insider threat.

An article by Bruce Dorris, President and CEO of ACFE highlights a new ACFE survey report that reveals that 51 percent of anti-fraud professionals surveyed said that they have uncovered higher levels of fraud since the pandemic began, with 20 percent saying the increase was significant.

Some great updates as well from within the industry, including feature articles from Security Consultants Lincoln Potter PSP and Chris Kumeroa, the latest on Hikvision’s ColorVu technology, and a critical exploration of New Zealand authorities’ approaches to countering violent extremism.

There’s plenty more in this October-November issue of NZSM! To ensure you don’t miss out on any of the news and analysis we publish, subscribe to our email newsletters via our website, and follow us on LinkedIn via the address listed on this page.

As always, feel free to get in touch to find out about how your business can benefit by being part of New Zealand’s premier security and risk management industry publication in 2022!

Nicholas Dynon, Auckland

Chief Editor Nicholas Dynon has written for NZSM since 2013. He writes on all things security, but is particularly fascinated with the fault lines between security and privacy, and between individual, enterprise and national security. Prior to NZSM he clocked up over 20 years experience in various border security and military roles.