Meteorological Service of New Zealand

Summary

A denial-of-service attack disrupted online services for multiple New Zealand organizations, including the national weather service, along with major banks, NZ Post, and a government ministry. The incident caused widespread inaccessibility of web platforms for users, with some financial institutions making recovery progress while authorities assessed the full impact. The government's cybersecurity agency engaged in ongoing efforts to gauge the scope of the disruptions, with the Digital Economy Minister confirming multiple entities were affected but refraining from premature conclusions about the incident's consequences.

Motives

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TTPs

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Description

On September 8, 2021, multiple New Zealand organizations experienced disruptions to their online services due to denial-of-service attacks. The incident affected ANZ, Kiwibank, NZ Post, MetService, and the Ministry for Primary Industries, rendering their web services inaccessible to many users throughout Wednesday. Digital Economy Minister David Clark confirmed Cert NZ, New Zealand's cybersecurity agency, had notified him about the disruptions impacting these organizations. The attacks occurred during business hours, though the exact start time and duration weren't specified in available reports. ANZ and Kiwibank implemented recovery measures that showed progress during the day, though full restoration timelines remained unclear. No technical details about the attack vectors or infrastructure targeted were disclosed in the initial government statements.

The New Zealand government maintained a cautious stance regarding impact assessment during the immediate aftermath. Minister Clark emphasized the ongoing nature of investigations, stating he wouldn't "get ahead of this process" when addressing media inquiries on Wednesday afternoon. Cert NZ coordinated with affected entities to evaluate the scope and consequences of the disruptions. The incident marked a coordinated attack against multiple critical service providers, though authorities didn't attribute responsibility to any specific threat actor. Service disruptions impacted public access to weather forecasting through MetService, financial services through the banks, postal services via NZ Post, and agricultural regulatory functions through MPI. Recovery progress varied between organizations, with financial institutions appearing to regain functionality faster than other affected entities based on user reports.

Sources

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