The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service and Government Communications Security Bureau (NZ Intelligence Agencies) have recently released a new guidance document titled “Secure Innovation” which provides security advice for emerging technology companies.
The guidance reflects best practice security advice derived from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, consisting of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, with each Five Eyes partner producing their own guidance based on the five principles. The collaboration is intended to ensure that companies operating across the Five Eyes regions can benefit from consistent and consolidated advice reflecting the global nature of the security threats facing emerging technology companies. A copy of the Secure Innovation guidance can be accessed here.
The purpose of the guidance is to provide the tech sector with a set of cost-effective measures companies can incorporate to better protect their ideas, reputation and future success.
The five principles of Secure Innovation are:
- Know the threats: Understand the potential vulnerabilities that might put your product or innovation at risk.
- Secure your business environment: Create clear lines of ownership around the management of security risks in a business. Appoint a security lead at board level who factors in security considerations into decisions and initiatives.
- Secure your products: Build security into the front end of your products by design. This will help protect your IP, make your products more marketable and ensure your products don’t become a supply chain vulnerability.
- Secure your partnerships: Make sure the people you collaborate with are who they say they are and can be trusted with your company’s IP.
- Secure your growth: Be aware of security risks as you expand, such as hiring new people into positions of trust and managing risk around entering new markets.
Who should be aware of this?
Although the guidance is predominantly directed towards tech start-ups, any organisation looking to develop new technology or operate in the tech sector may find the guidance helpful in building resilient security practices into the business in conjunction with a “security by design” mindset, and/or validating the adequacy of their existing security practices.
With the ever-increasing risk of sophisticated and targeted attacks by malicious actors and foreign states trying to exploit New Zealand companies’ data, emerging technology, and associated intellectual property, this guidance also serves as a useful reminder that all companies need to continuously work to ensure security practices and protocols remain robust and fit for purpose.
NZ joins UK initiative for AI safety
In other technology related news, the Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology announced recently that the NZ Government is joining the UK’s Bletchley Declaration on Artificial Intelligence Safety. The Declaration recognises the global opportunities AI presents and affirms that to realise this potential AI must be designed, developed, deployed and used responsibly and safely, and in a manner that is people-focused and can be trusted. This important international agreement is a further step by the Government to demonstrate its commitment towards responsible AI and promoting the safe use of AI to deliver better results for New Zealanders.
If you’d like to discuss the Secure Innovation guidance or the Bletchley Declaration in more detail, please get in touch with one of our subject matter experts.
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