Protection against Foreign Interference

LATEST UPDATES: Due Diligence for Foreign Interference and Espionage Risk

This guide is to help you mitigate the risks associated with Foreign Interference. You can also adapt the approaches here to help mitigate reputational and other risks, including those coming from criminal activities or industrial espionage.

We developed this guidance with the UK’s Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), Business New Zealand, Universities New Zealand, Science New Zealand, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), NZ Growth Capital Partners, and Callaghan Innovation.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Zealand benefits from being able to engage with the world confidently. Ensuring New Zealand maintains the integrity and security of its people and international collaborations are vital to our continued success.

New Zealand’s strength lies in our open economy and open society. This openness can be exploited by foreign actors.  This could be through foreign interference, where foreign states may seek to influence, disrupt or subvert New Zealand’s interests by covert, deceptive, corrupt or threatening means.

These resources outline the potential risks for different groups and advise how to protect individuals, organisations and assets; including sensitive research and intellectual property from these risks.

Page last modified: 1/11/2022