Microsoft outage sparks fresh concerns about nation’s cyber protection and vulnerability

Detailed summary

Government officials are working on policies to strengthen the cyber protection of critical infrastructure, more than seven months after consultations closed. Officials told RNZ…

The Government is working to strengthen the nation's critical infrastructure from attack. Photo / Artur Marciniec, Deposit Photos

Government officials are working on policies to strengthen the cyber protection of critical infrastructure, more than seven months after consultations closed.

They are working through submissions to refine policy options, after the February-April public consultation.

“Our intention is to provide advice to ministers early in the next term of government.”

Friday’s Microsoft Outlook outage has sparked fresh questions about New Zealand’s vulnerability to global technology glitches and whether the Government was doing enough.

“From a cyber security perspective, the Government needs to be much more engaged,” frequent critic Don Christie said of Catalyst IT.

In early 2026, the officials laid out two new proposed categories of infrastructure that could be subject to mandatory minimum requirements to enhance cyber security and resilience.

Official documents said critical national infrastructure was “increasingly vulnerable to cyber attack”.

“Current regulatory settings are not designed to drive a consistent uplift in cyber security across the critical infrastructure system”.

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