[BreachExchange] NZX website hit by fresh cyber attack

[Destry Winant]

https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nzx-website-hit-by-fresh-cyber-attack-552656

The New Zealand stock market was hit by a fifth day of cyber attacks
on Monday, crashing its website, but maintained trading after
switching to a contingency plan for the release of market
announcements.

NZX was halted for most of last week due to the attacks, which
authorities have said originated offshore.

Monday's attack came shortly after NZX said it had agreed with the
Financial Markets Authority (FMA) on a backup plan for the release of
market announcements.

A spokesman for NZX confirmed the website was down, but said trading
on its platform, which began at 10.00 am local time, was continuing as
usual through the contingency arrangements.

He declined to comment on who was behind the attacks, whether there
had been any extortion demand or what measures have been put in place
to stop future attacks.

The bourse said in a statement that the exchange was working with its
network's service provider, Spark, government cybersecurity agencies,
and a US-based cybersecurity firm Akamai Technologies to implement
additional security measures.

"NZX has been advised by independent cyber specialists that the
attacks last week are among the largest, most well-resourced and
sophisticated they have ever seen in New Zealand," NZX's chief
executive, Mark Peterson said.

NZX faced disruptions for four days last week when it was hit
repeatedly by distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

The attacks forced NZX to halt trading in its cash markets, disrupting
operations in its debt market, Fonterra Shareholders Market and
derivatives market.

NZX said its core trading platforms were not hit in last week's
attacks but the public facing website crashed, affecting the
exchange's ability to publish market announcements.

"At those times, NZX made the decision to halt the market in order to
maintain market integrity," it said.

News websites of Stuff and Radio New Zealand had also been targeted by
cyber attacks, local media reported on Monday, but the attacks were
unsuccessful.

New Zealand, a relatively small economy with a population of five
million, is not often the target of such attacks but neighbouring
Australia ramped up its cyber security this year after a rise in
similar incidents.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson said last week the Government
Communications Security Bureau and the national agency fighting cyber
crime had been called in to help the bourse.

NZX said the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has sent a warning
notice to New Zealand companies about the attacks.