Cyber attack fears behind New Zealand training taskforce

The New Zealand government has set up a Cyber Security Skills Taskforce to help train people to defend against cyber attacks, Communications Minister Amy Adams said Tuesday.

The taskforce would focus on practical actions to increase the number of cyber professionals needed to help defend against cyber-attacks, which cost the New Zealand economy 257 million NZ dollars (188.69 million U.S. dollars) last year, Adams said in a statement.

Many New Zealand universities had developed specialist cyber security degrees and postgraduate courses or were in the process of developing them.

The taskforce would establish a pathway for junior analysts, including industry-supported internships to be developed in 2017.

"There is a growing global shortage of cyber security professionals. It's estimated that there will be a global workforce shortfall of between 1 to 2 million positions by 2019," said Adams.

"This shortage is limiting the ability of organizations to protect themselves from the increasing threat of cyber attacks. New Zealand is competing for talent in a global market and it's important that the taskforce looks at ways in which New Zealand can grow its own talent." Endit