Pandemic behind online crime wave

Phishing, fraud and malware at record levels

More New Zealanders than ever were on the wrong end of phishing, fraud and malware in the three months to September.

Cert, Computer Emergency Response Team, says it recieved 2610 incident reports. That's up 33 percent on the previous quarter and close to double the level of the same time a year earlier.

The cost of crime is rising even faster than the number of incidents. Cert says people reported crimes worth $6.4 million in the quarter. Again that's almost double the same period a year earlier.

Higher than reported

Cert is the government agency set up to help businesses, other government agencies and individuals who face online crime. It points out the numbers reflect reported crimes. The actual level of incidents and losses incurred will be higher.

While phishing and credential harvesting were the most reported incidents, distributed denial of service attacks on high profile organisations like the NZX made headlines during the quarter.

The quarter saw the emergence of Emotet, malicious software spread by email. If users click on links in the message, the software will install and steal sensitive data including passwords.

Fibre uptake hits 62 percent

Crown Infrastructure Partners September quarter figures show national UFB uptake is now 62 percent. CIP reports that contractors added 22 new towns to the network in the quarter. The build is 93 percent complete and remains ahead of schedule. There's a clear move to faster fibre plans. The average UFB speed is now 238Mbps while over 161,000 premises have a gigabit connection.

2degrees sole telco in top 20 brand list

2degrees is the only telco in the November 2020 Brand Reputation Index. It sits at number 11 in a table topped by Pic's Peanut Butter, Whittakers and Watties. The numbers come from Opinion Compare, part of the same group as Broadband Compare. It measures consumer perceptions of brands.

Dense Air building private mobile network

CommsDay reports that Dense Air is building a private small cell mobile network. The company is working with Think Robotics and Ohmio, the self-driving car company. Their goal is to provide an autonomous shuttle vehicle service for people in a new Auckland housing development. Residents will be able to order on-demand transport using a phone app.

Hawaiki builds submarine capacity to meet lockdown demand

Hawaiki Submarine Cable says the response to the Covid-19 pandemic means surging demand for capacity and speed on its trans-pacific connection. This has brought forward plans to boost capacity. The compass will use Ciena's Wavelogic 5 Extreme technology to offer 500Gps wavelengths. The network connects New Zealand, Australia, American Samoa to Hawaii and the US west coast.

IDC forecasts end of year phone sales growth

Research company IDC says it expects worldwide phone sales to grow 2.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020. It's a modest number, but follows the biggest ever fall in sales. IDC says the move to 5G models will fuel the growth despite concerns about a lack of demand for the technology.