The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) says the country’s SMEs lag their Australian counterparts in taking up cyber protection.

More than 90% of New Zealand businesses have fewer than 20 employees, but only 6% of SMEs have cyber insurance, compared with 14% in Australia.

“The big corporates get it – we are seeing a real move to most having a cyber policy, or at least a standing item on their board agendas,” CEO Tim Grafton said.

“The real problem area is New Zealand SMEs.”

ICNZ has raised the issue as part of Cyber Smart Week, an awareness campaign starting today, organised by government agencies Computer Emergency Response Team NZ and Connect Smart.

Mr Grafton says common cyber attacks are unsophisticated and untargeted, and while often below $NZ5000 ($4508) in value, they are still serious enough to be annoying and damaging.

A recent Norton New Zealand cyber security survey found one in five small businesses have been targeted.