On Sunday, the New Zealand central bank said it was responding urgently to a “malicious” breach of one of its data systems.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) announced that a third party file sharing service used by the bank to share and store some confidential information was accessed illegally.
RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr said the breach was contained and the bank’s main functions “remain sound 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,” said Orr in a statement.
“The nature and extent of the information potentially accessed is still being determined, but it may include some sensitive business and personal information,” he said.
Rising cyber attacks
It is unclear when the breach occurred, who was responsible and in which country the file sharing service is located. It will take time to understand all the implications of the breach, according to the bank.
In a November 2019 financial stability report, RBNZ warned that cybersecurity incidents were increasing in New Zealand.
Several major organizations in New Zealand were the target of cyber attacks last year. Last August, the New Zealand Stock Exchange was the target of constant DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks, interrupting trade for four consecutive days.
In its latest report, the government agency CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) said that cyber attacks in the country increased by 33% year on year.
mvb / mm (AFP, AP, Reuters)