- Posted December 06, 2022
- Media Releases
An information technology managed service provider who provides services to support a range of organisations, including several government agencies, has experienced a cyber incident that has compromised access to its data and systems.
The provider has engaged external cyber security response support and reported the incident to agencies including the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), New Zealand Police, CERT NZ, and the Privacy Commissioner.
The NCSC, within the Government Communications Security Bureau, is currently leading coordination of the Government’s response.
The government agencies whose data has been impacted include some providers contracted to Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand. The incident has not impacted the delivery of health services.
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the cyber security incident involving the external company has impacted access to some coronial data.
Lisa Fong, Deputy Director-General of the NCSC, said the incident response is at an early stage. The NCSC is working with the technology service provider to help understand more fully the nature of the data that has been impacted, and how it occurred.
“It may take some time to get clarity around data impacted and to determine potential harm and scope of any breach.
“We are very conscious that the malicious actors behind this event could use public communications as a means to further leverage the incident and cause harm to others. For this reason, we will not be providing further information at this time.”
Affected agencies will be reaching out to people they are able to identity as possibly being affected to advise them of the incident and provide support to help address any impact.
ENDS
Media contact: media@nzic.govt.nz
Note to editors: The NCSC will not be conducting interviews in relation to this statement. Questions about the response of affected agencies should be put to the relevant agency.
Further resources
CERT NZ provides the following resources for businesses looking to protect themselves from cyber security incidents:
For SMEs:
For larger organisations and IT professionals:
https://www.cert.govt.nz/it-specialists/critical-controls/10-critical-controls/(external link)
For individuals, including basic cyber security steps:
https://www.cert.govt.nz/individuals/guides/get-started-cyber-security/(external link)