Tag Archive for: Waikato

Waikato DHB cyber attack ‘hackers’ make contact with health bosses

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Waikato DHB’s IT centre is the target of a major cyber security attack. Video / Waikato DHB

Hackers claiming to be behind a cyber attack that led to surgeries being postponed at Waikato public hospitals this week have made contact with health officials.

Tuesday’s attack brought the Waikato District Health Board’s entire IT network down, with officials now hoping to get the system back up and running by the weekend.

Police were investigating the attack that had affected Waikato testing laboratories, cancer treatments and email, phone and other services.

The crippling attack was also just one among a slew of daily cyber assaults hitting New Zealand’s health and hospital network, the Ministry of Health warned.

The risk patient records had been lost or privacy breaches occurred was low, but investigators could not yet be certain of this, said Waikato District Health Board chief executive Kevin Snee.

As well as bringing in outside cyber security experts, the National Cyber Security Centre was also guiding his team in how to deal with those claiming to be the hackers, Snee said.

“We’ve had a communication, but whether that is from the … malicious actors or whether it is somebody else – we have to check the veracity of that,” he said.

Health officials also confirmed Tuesday’s attack didn’t appear to be linked to a major ransomware assault on Ireland’s health network recently.

It came as high-profile cyber attacks had increasingly made headlines around the world, including the Irish attack last Friday and another that shut down an important United States’ fuel pipeline this week.

The Ministry of Health said it had encouraged DHBs and their staff to have plans ready to deal with cyber incidents and be vigilant using the internet careful.

“All DHBS face cyber attacks in various forms daily,” a Ministry of Health spokeswoman said.

“For security reasons, we will not be commenting on the response to the Waikato DHB incident in greater detail at this time.”

Waikato DHB’s Snee said the cyber breach occurred at 2.40am

One of the leads investigators were following was that it entered the health provider’s network through an email attachment.

“That is one working assumption, but we’re not…

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NZ spy agency assisting Waikato DHB after cyber attack/ransom demand

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Waikato DHB’s IT centre is the target of a major cyber security attack. Video / Waikato DHB

The nation’s spy agency has been scrambled in the aftermath of a crippling cyber attack and ransom demand that has brought Waikato District Health Board services to their knees.

But the DHB is adamant that no ransom will be paid to hackers who have launched a targeted attack on the organisation’s IT services today.

A spokesman for the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – a branch of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) – told the Herald staff were providing support to Waikato DHB following today’s attack.

The spokesman said the NCSC’s role was to help protect New Zealand organisations of national significance “from advanced, persistent, primarily state-sponsored, cyber security threats”.

The agency did not usually divulge whether it was involved in specific incidents.

“We are very conscious that malicious cyber actors can monitor public commentary on and incident and for this reason, while the investigation and remediation efforts are ongoing, we will not provide additional details regarding its cause or the response to it.”

DHB chief executive Kevin Snee told Stuff “no ransom will be paid” and he did not know who was behind the attack.

Cyber security expert Bruce Armstrong told the Herald he believes it is a ransomware attack on Waikato DHB from Asia or the Middle East, similar to what has hit the Irish health system in recent days.

He believes it is similar in nature to the DDoS attacks that rocked the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) last year and overran its system for days.

“Health organisations are highly prized as targets globally and health industries throughout the world are the most attacked and most expensive type of attacks that happen,” the Darkscope founder said.

“The normal pattern is they will warn the organisation they will do it, and run half an hour DDoS attacks, and if the ransom is not paid they will attack for hours at a time.

“The attack on the NZX played out over three days before they were able to completely stop its effect on their systems.”

He said ransomware attacks are not targeting patient data and the only interest is to get money from…

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‘No ransom will be paid’: Waikato DHB not giving in to cyber security attackers

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Waikato DHB’s IT centre is the target of a major cyber security attack. Video / Waikato DHB

Waikato District Health Board’s top boss said no ransom will be paid to cyber security attackers who have targeted its IT services today.

Chief executive Kevin Snee told Stuff “no ransom will be paid” and he did not know who was behind the attack.

Cyber security expert Bruce Armstrong told the Herald he believes it is a ransomware attack on Waikato DHB from Asia or the Middle East, similar to what has hit the Irish health system in recent days.

He believes it is similar in nature to the DDoS attacks that rocked the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) last year and overrun its system for days.

“Health organisations are highly prized as targets globally and health industries throughout the world are the most attacked and most expensive type of attacks that happen,” the Darkscope founder said.

“The normal pattern is they will warn the organisation they will do it, and run half an hour DDoS attacks, and if the ransom is not paid they will attack at hours at a time.

“The attack on the NZX played out over three days before they were able to completely stop its affect on their systems.”

He said ransomware attacks are not targeting patient data and the only interest is to get money from the organisation.

“It’s purely commercial … they’re just doing it to take money from the organisations that they’re attacking,” Armstrong said.

“It’s a game of cat and mouse. Unless defence systems can get better we will see them happening throughout the world.”

The major cyber security attack has been described as “mayhem” and could take days to fix, a union representing doctors says.

Clinical services across all Waikato public hospitals have been seriously affected by the cyber security incident, with all phones and computers down.

Waikato District Health Board has set up a coordinated incident management system to try to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

The DHB said it was experiencing a full outage of its information services.

Clinical services at Waikato, Thames, Tokoroa, Te Kuiti and Taumaranui hospitals are all affected to varying degrees.

“We have engaged external assistance to address a cyber…

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