On Sunday, the Central Bank of New Zealand reported that it was urgently responding to a “malicious” breach of one of its data systems.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) announced that it was illegally accessing a third-party file-sharing service used by the bank to share and store sensitive information.
RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr said the breach had been limited and that 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 scope of the information that has been accessed is still being determined, but it may include commercial and personally sensitive information,” he said.
Cyberattacks are on the rise
It is unclear when the violation occurred, who was responsible and in which country the file-sharing service is based. According to the bank, it will take time to understand all the implications of default.
In a November 2019 financial stability report, RBNZ warned that cybersecurity incidents were on the rise in New Zealand.
Several major New Zealand organizations have been the target of cyberattacks over the past year. Last August, the New Zealand Stock Exchange had been the target of sustained DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks, which halted trading for four consecutive days.
In its latest report, the government agency CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) said that cyber attacks in the country had increased by 33% year-on-year.
mvb / mm (AFP, AP, Reuters)