On Sunday, the New Zealand central bank reported that it was responding urgently to a “malicious” breach of one of its data systems.
The New Zealand Reserve Bank (RBNZ) announced that a third-party file-sharing service used by the bank to share and store sensitive information had been illegally accessed.
RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr said the breach was limited and the bank’s main functions “remain solid and operational”.
“We are working closely with national and international cybersecurity experts and other relevant authorities as part of our investigation and response to this malicious attack,” Orr said in a statement.
“The nature and extent of the information that was potentially accessed is still being determined, but may include some commercially and personally sensitive information,” he said.
Cyber attacks are on the rise
It is unclear when the violation occurred, who was responsible, and in which country the file sharing service is based. It will take time to understand the full implications of the breach, according to the bank.
In a November 2019 financial stability report, the RBNZ warned that cyber security incidents were on the rise in New Zealand.
Several major New Zealand organizations have been the target of cyber attacks in the last year. In August last year, the New Zealand Stock Exchange was hit by sustained DDoS attacks (distributed denial of service), stopping trading for four consecutive days.
In its latest report, the government agency CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) said that cyber attacks in the country have increased by 33% year on year.
mvb / mm (AFP, AP, Reuters)