YOU’VE BEEN REPORTED TO THE CYBER-POLICE

If you’ve come across something nasty online, or if you’ve been the victim of harassment or a scam, you may have been left wondering just who you should be reporting the offence to. Well, NetSafe has just announced the creation of The ORB, or ‘online reporting button’, a website that allows New Zealanders to report a full range of cyber offences and crimes, including spam, fraud, privacy breaches and child exploitation, and hopefully, get action. “Nobody expects to get caught up in or witness a cybercrime, and when they do, they often don’t know where to turn,” says Martin Cocker, Executive Director of NetSafe. “The ORB now provides them with a single place to go when this happens.” Reports received through the website are routed to the appropriate agencies, including the NZ Police, Customs, the SFO, Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Commerce Commission, and the DIA. It’s also expected that NetSafe will respond directly to some reports where no actionable offence or crime has been committed. (There are also a number of other corporate and government agencies that may receive information as a result of the ORB, when complaints do not fit the criteria of the main enforcement partners.) “Cyber space is vast and extremely difficult to monitor,” says Cocker. “The agencies partnered on the ORB are determined to make this space safer for New Zealanders, but they need the community to help. The ORB makes it simple for the community to support the work of these agencies.” www.theorb.org.nz