The NCSC’s Malware Free Networks service achieves 10 million disruptions

The National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) Malware Free Network (MFN) service has reached the significant milestone of 10 million disruptions. The NCSC is a part of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB). 

MFN is a threat detection and disruption service that delivers near real-time threat intelligence reflecting current malicious activity targeting organisations and New Zealanders.  

The NCSC provides the MFN service to a range of private-sector partners, who deliver the service to their clients, scaling the impact of the NCSC’s cyber defence capabilities across a broad cross-section of the economy. 

Lisa Fong, GCSB Deputy Director-General, responsible for the NCSC, said the figures behind the 10 million disruptions include 5.5 million attempts at finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in customer networks, 3.3 million blocks on people accessing phishing links, and 4 thousand attempts to download malware.  

“MFN’s success is driven by a comprehensive threat intelligence feed, curated from a variety of sources including international cyber security partners, coupled with robust internal analysis and research.  

“Notably, 95% of the disruptions originate from indicators identified through the NCSC’s own analytics and research. 

“Since its inception in 2021, MFN has experienced significant growth, expanding its partner base from an initial seven to 21 organisations.  

“This expansion has substantially increased MFN’s coverage and impact across Aotearoa.  

"I want to acknowledge the considerable support our MFN partners have provided in helping us achieve this milestone. 

“We are proud of the success achieved by our MFN service in disrupting threats, and we’re excited to see how MFN will continue to grow and enhance cyber security for New Zealanders in the future,” Ms Fong said. 

Tony Baird, One New Zealand’s Chief Technology Officer, expressed immense pride in being the first telco in New Zealand to roll out MFN at a network level to broadband and mobile customers back in May 2023 with their partner, DEFEND.   

“This threat detection and disruption service continues to complement our in-house cyber security work to block scammers and keep our customers and their businesses safer.   

“It's brilliant to see that MFN has hit the 10 million threats blocked milestone – the service helps our customers, friends, and family. The technology makes a real difference to everyday Kiwis' lives." 

“We are a strong proponent of the proactive disruption capability that MFN provides. We believe that MFN has helped our customers strengthen their security posture and avoid potentially costly security incidents over the last four years,” says James Fitzsimons, Cassini co-founder and Head of Managed Services at Bastion Security. 

Spark NZ Chief Information Security Officer Nyuk Loong Kiw says Spark has worked with the NCSC to implement MFN into its network to further strengthen its defence against malicious activity.  

"We're pleased to partner with the NCSC to incorporate the MFN service as part of our cyber security capabilities.  

“Reaching a significant milestone of 10 million disruptions for the MFN is strong testament to the effectiveness of near real-time threat intelligence on current malicious activity targeting New Zealand organisations, helping to reduce incidences of mobile and broadband users inadvertently downloading malware onto their devices."