Nine To Noon Is the government's cyber security plan enough?
Mar 22, 2026
Patrick Sharp, General Manager of Aura Information Security at Cordia, is a critical infrastructure and cybersecurity expert. He discusses New Zealand’s overdue cyber plan, recent breaches and rising ransomware, AI-enabled phishing and supply-chain risks. He explains who counts as critical infrastructure, potential penalties, and practical defenses like network segmentation and testing.
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New Zealand Is Behind On Cybersecurity
- New Zealand urgently needs an updated national cyber security plan because current protections lag international peers.
- Patrick Sharp says there's no single enforceable law mandating minimum cyber security and the country ranks about 60th globally, behind Australia at 21st.
Why Ransomware Still Pays For Attackers
- Ransomware remains effective so attackers keep using it and profiting.
- Patrick Sharp describes hackers stealing data to ransom or sell it, noting old methods still work alongside new tech.
AI Makes Phishing Far More Convincing
- AI has upgraded phishing from badly written scams to convincing, multi-language social engineering.
- Sharp warns AI now writes whole conversations and eliminates old telltale grammar errors, increasing attack success rates.