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The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Cyber Secure Carol
On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: A firewall to protect my PC. On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: …
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!
Holiday hours Last day: Friday 20th December 2024 We’re back: Monday 13th January 2025 Wishing you a Merry (and secure) Xmas and a Happy New Year. May your holiday season …
Beyond the buzzwords: what real cybersecurity readiness looks like in 2025
We’ve all heard the cybersecurity buzzwords – resilience, robust protection, comprehensive security. But what does it actually mean to be cyber ready in today’s threat landscape? Here’s an uncomfortable truth …
The hidden cost of “Good Enough” security training
Everyone knows cybersecurity training is important. But here’s what most businesses don’t realise – basic compliance training could be giving you a false sense of security while leaving you more …
12 Scams of Xmas
The holiday season can be a hectic time, which means cybercriminals will be increasing their efforts to scam you. Stay vigilant – if something feels off, trust your instincts and …
Cyber resilience in SMEs: A call to action for MSPs and businesses
Cyber resilience is no longer optional; it’s a survival necessity in 2024. Our recent research paper “MSP Insights on Cyber Resilience” shows a troubling gap between the cybersecurity readiness and …
Why staff are your biggest security risk
Here’s a hard truth: your expensive security software can’t protect against human nature. The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) keeps saying it: human error leads to most serious data breaches. CERT …
The true business impact of a cyber attack
It’s worse than you think Your worst business nightmare isn’t a recession or new competition. It’s a cyber attack that brings everything crashing down overnight. Here in New Zealand, cyber …
Outfox launches cyber resilience certification for SMEs
Outfox, New Zealand’s award-winning cyber resilience company, is thrilled to announce the launch of the world’s first Cyber Resilience Aware certification. Tailored specifically for individuals, as well as small and …
CrowdStrike IT outage
A recent bad update from cyber security company CrowdStrike for their Falcon software caused PCs to become unusable, able only to display the so-called “blue screen of death” or “BSOD”. …
10,000,000,000 stolen passwords published
A record-breaking collection of stolen passwords has just been published. Dubbed “RockYou2024”, it is a compilation of previously published stolen passwords. Since the list was last published in 2021, around …
Scam phone calls from 0800 CERT NZ
CERT NZ say they have reports of people receiving phone calls which appear to be from 0800 CERT NZ (0800 2378 69), which is CERT NZ’s official phone number. The …
File sharing phishing campaign in NZ
CERT NZ are warning of a file sharing phishing campaign in NZ. Compromised accounts are being used to send phishing messages from trusted or known contacts. The phishing messages will …
Outfox finalists in the 2024 Bx Business xCellence Awards
We’re honoured to be a finalist for the Bx Business xCellence Awards for the second year running in the IT Services, App Development & Software Development category. We were up …
Is a lack of cyber resilience making you lose your edge?
How do you know your competitive edge is dull? It’s when your customers go elsewhere. Cybercrime causes businesses to lose customers. When a customer’s sensitive information (aka PII)1 is stolen …
Own an Apple device? Cybercriminals might target you.
Apple device owners are reporting a new cyberattack, which combines “MFA bombing” with faked phone calls from Apple Support. “MFA bombing” (also known as “MFA fatigue” and “Push bombing”) is …
MediaWorks hack: are you impacted?
Entered any online radio competitions? Voted online for contestants in a TV show? If so, you are more than likely to be impacted by the recent MediaWorks data breach. MediaWorks …
When cyber resilience & field hockey meet
When the opportunity to sponsor the Tasman women’s 50s age group masters hockey team came about, here is why we said yes! This week Outfox is bringing together two very …
Record-breaking cache of stolen user data found
Security researchers have located a record-breaking cache of stolen user data on the dark web. The cache is made up of newly stolen data along with data aggregated from previous …
Never re-use passwords: a real-world example
Many popular Australian high-profile fashion, food, and entertainment companies are currently undergoing a cyberattack, with breached user accounts being used to purchase goods online. At least 15,000 users are believed …
Jargon buster: what is “Multi-factor Authentication”?
One of the best things you can currently do to secure yourself online is to use Multi-factor Authentication wherever it is available. It is also sometimes referred to as MFA, …
Cheers to 2023 from the Outfox team
As the year comes to a close, here in the Outfox den we are reflecting on the year that’s been. We have helped lots of businesses stay one step ahead …
Welcome to our new web site
The last part of our rebrand from Intelligensia to Outfox is complete, with this, our brand new website. We decided to build from scratch, rather than trying to rebrand and …
Protect your organisation from cyber threats these holidays
The holiday season is a time of celebration, but it’s also a peak period for cyber threats that can jeopardise the security of small to medium-sized businesses and organisations. While …
Outfox wins iSANZ Start-Up of the Year award
We are thrilled to announce that Outfox has been honoured with the “Start-Up or New Business of the Year” award at the prestigious iSANZ award ceremony, held on Tuesday 14th …
Introducing Outfox
Intelligensia Rebrands as Outfox: A Fresh Name for a Bright Future Our journey began as Intelligensia, where we prided ourselves on delivering intelligent cyber resilience solutions to our valued clients. …
Jargon buster: what is a “botnet”?
A multi-national task force led by the FBI have announced that they have successfully taken down the botnet known as Qakbot. The botnet was used for a variety of cybercrimes, …
We’re re-branding!
We’re changing our name from Intelligensia to Outfox! The old name was hard to spell and hard to type. It also caused a degree of confusion in search engines, which …
Mac malware alert – “OfficeNote”
Do not install the fake macOS app “OfficeNote”. It will install the “XLoader” information stealer and botnet malware. The malware app “XLoader” has been around since 2015, with the first …
It’s a Barbie world… for scammers
The Barbie movie is a hit, and not just with movie goers. McAfee say they have seen a surge in Barbie-related scams, as scammers try to cash in on the …
Is your printer going to tattle on you?
Canon have warned that nearly 200 of their home, office, and large-format inkjet printer models have a bug which means network details are not necessarily wiped when you do a …
Government cyber security agencies merging
The government has announced that two of Aotearoa NZ’s government cyber security agencies are to merge. The change is one of the outcomes from the recent report of the Cabinet’s …
Welcome to our new & improved blog
We’re beefing up our blogging game! Keep watch for information about the latest threats, advice on how to make your business more cyber resilient, and news about the NZ cybersecurity …
When disasters occur, charity scammers are there to make it worse.
When natural disasters occur, everyone wants to give a little to help. Sometimes the best thing we can do is donate money. It’s at times like these that scammers like …
Intelligensia explains Cyber Security
The words ‘cyber security’ get a lot of use in the media these days, but for most people it can be a confusing term, best left to the experts. What …
The Christmas Grinch is coming to a business near you
You better watch out; you’d better beware because cybercriminals are everywhere! They are making their lists and checking them twice, to see who’s next to be victimised. Cybercriminals are the …
In the news: Record $35 million lost to scams this year
At least $35 million was lost to scams and fraud in New Zealand this year, according to Netsafe. The online safety organisation said there had been a 90% increase in …
New Zealand Women in Security Awards 2022
Congratulations to Jan Thornborough on becoming a finalist at the New Zealand Women in Security Awards 2022 for Best Security Mentor, alongside Ivy Macapagal from ESR – Science and Research, …
Beware of fake emails about Ukraine relief charity scams
Cybercriminals have no qualms about stooping to the lowest of the low to trick you into clicking on their fake (Phishing) emails. In addition to the Covid themed ones, the …
Financial advice industry gets hard word on cybersecurity and warned of the dangers of cyber attacks to their finances, their clients and their reputations
The financial industry got the hard word on cybersecurity and were warned of the dangers cyber attacks on their finances, clients and reputations. Speaking at a webinar organised by Financial …
Cybercriminals spent Waitangi weekend attacking fundraising sites
While most of us were on holiday or just cowering from the rain over the long weekend, cyber criminals were busy launching ‘carding attacks’ against fundraising websites. A carding attack …
Fundraising sites being used to validate stolen credit cards
Unscrupulous individuals and gangs of cybercriminals use fundraising payment sites to test stolen credit card numbers. They have automated ways of making a $1 donation from each card to see …
Is that gaming app you’ve downloaded worth losing your identity or job?
We all enjoy an online game or two, right? How often do you see people playing a game of some sort on their phone or laptop while they wait for …
It’s time to layer up
It’s our go-to protection when the autumn leaves fall and the temperature drops. Winter is coming, and we need additional layers of protection to stay safe and warm. It’s the …
Off the hook: how to detect and avoid phishing attacks
Online scammers are using increasingly sophisticated techniques to lure their targets into providing money, access, and information. It may only take a few seconds for you to open a malicious …
Online Mother’s Day bargains are not always what they seem
It’s that time again when the unprepared amongst us have only just realised that it’s Mother’s Day. Quick! Jump online and type in “gift for mum”. You will get a …
Cyber criminals, like bullies, pick on the weak and defenceless
You’ve probably all experienced it. The smallest kid in the school gets picked on by the bullies. It’s the same with cyber criminals. They are the bullies, and small businesses …
What do grape-stealing birds and cyber criminals have in common?
Sitting in my home office I noticed a cheeky thrush hopping along the fence with a juicy red globe in its mouth. It took me a wee while to realise …
Global intelligence agencies share UK stage for first time at CYBERUK
Representing New Zealand, Jan discussed with fellow ‘Five Eyes’ agencies global vulnerabilities, shared experiences and differences to approaches to boost global cyber attack resilience. Read more.