Cyber Incident Victim: New Zealand Football
Date:
Jan 2018
Location:
New Zealand
Summary
New Zealand Football's official website was compromised with a fabricated article falsely announcing the immediate resignation of its CEO, which was promptly removed after publication. The organization denied the claims via social media and a spokesperson, confirming the CEO remained in his position and initiating an investigation into the unauthorized access. No details regarding the attack's origin, methods, or perpetrators were disclosed by the victim.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 3 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On January 12, 2018, New Zealand Football’s official website was compromised by unauthorized actors who published a fabricated article announcing the immediate resignation of CEO Andy Martin. The false article, headlined "Andy Martin resigns as CEO," appeared on the All Whites’ official website and falsely claimed Martin’s departure was effective immediately, despite his tenure beginning in February 2014. The fraudulent post included specific fabricated statements, alleging NZF would launch a "worldwide search" to fill the vacancy and that Martin had challenged critics of his leadership to "try and do a better job yourselves." The article was swiftly removed from the website after its discovery, though the exact timeframe between its publication and takedown was not disclosed by NZ Football. No technical details regarding the intrusion method, such as exploitation vectors or attacker access points, were revealed by the organization.
New Zealand Football responded to the incident by publicly denying the resignation through an official tweet, stating, "We would like to confirm that CEO Andy Martin has not resigned. We are looking into a potential hack of our website." A spokesperson further emphasized to the New Zealand Herald that there was "no truth to the report at all," confirming the article’s content was entirely fabricated. The organization initiated an investigation into the potential breach but did not disclose whether external cybersecurity experts were involved or what forensic measures were undertaken. No attribution to specific threat actors or motives was provided, and NZ Football did not clarify whether other website content or internal systems were compromised beyond the false article. The incident temporarily disrupted the organization’s digital communications, necessitating public corrections to counter misinformation. No long-term operational impacts or data breaches were reported in the available information.