Cybersecurity incidents continue to affect the performance of the world’s most important economic activities. Logical security specialists report that activities on the New Zealand stock exchange were disrupted for two consecutive days after a group of malicious hackers deployed a complex cyberattack against it. Reports have already been confirmed by the New Zealand authorities.
In subsequent statements, stock exchange representatives mentioned that their systems were attacked by a group of hackers over Tuesdays and Wednesdays, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition through their Internet service provider: “Our website and the stock information platform were severely affected,” the representatives said.
After the first incident, threat actors attacked again, collapsing stock market systems on Wednesday morning, New Zealand time. By resetting its systems a few hours later, the exchange reported consecutive cyberattacks.
According to the logical security specialists, the main goal of a denial of service (DoS) attack is to disrupt the proper functioning of a computer system, saturating a network with high volumes of artificial traffic.
In an interview for local radio, Auckland University of Technology IT expert Dave Perry assured that these incidents were deployed by a kind of “cyber mafia”: “The mode of operation indicates that the perpetrators have advanced hacking skills, which reminds the most structured cybercriminal groups in the world, some of which are sponsored by foreign governments. This kind of attack requires great financial resources”.
This does not mean that only large hacker groups can successfully launch a DoS attack, as logical security experts claim that any inexperienced user or hacking group can find online some tools that could compromise the networks of many users or organizations. A trend of recent growth is DoS-for-hire platforms, where anyone can purchase a DoS attack service for truly affordable prices.
So far nothing is known about those responsible for the attack, although more information may appear shortly. Meanwhile, New Zealand stock market security teams have implemented some measures to monitor their systems and prevent a new cyberattack.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
