CASE STUDY - The Massive DDoS Attack on New Zealand Exchange(METHOD)

METHODOLOGY

The attack on the NZX took place on Tuesday, the 25th of August this year(Coker, 2020). This attack led to the halting of the trading at 3:57 pm and caused the exchange to go offline at 11:24am the next day, which is the 26th of August(Coker, 2020).

This incident was caused by an overseas DDoS attack which happened two days in a row(Farrer, 2020). The overseas group speculated to be the cause of this event were the Russian cyber-gang classified as APT-29, called Cozy Bear(CERTNZ, 2019). The Cozy Bear is a notorious gang that has been active since 2008 and got attention upon their attack on the US government in 2014(Michael, 2020). Little is known about the attack but it is believed to date back to late 2019 when the companies from the financial sector in NZ first received extortion emails which said to pay a ransom by a specific deadline or they will experience Denial-Of-Service attacks at that time (CERTNZ, 2019).

                                                                                        (THESUN, 2020)


This event led to some short-term consequences which were the halting of the market for 4 hours and 36minutes(BBC, 2020). Moreover, according to RNZ (NZHERALD, 2020):"After trading resumed, the benchmark NZX-50 index was down about 40 points or 0.4 per cent at 12,012, about 100 points shy of a record high. " Many traders were affected as well since they were not able to continue their businesses for a while(BBC, 2020). Some other financial services were affected as well, such as PayPal, Worldpay and Braintree.

References:

THESUN, (2020). The Russian Hacking Group Known As Cozy Bear Was Behind A String Of Cyber Attacks Over The Years. [image] Available at: <https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/NINTCHDBPICT000596077662.jpg> [Accessed 28 November 2020].

Coker, J., (2020). New Zealand’S Stock Exchange Hit By Cyber-Attacks Two Days In A Row. [online] Infosecurity Magazine. Available at: <https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/new-zealand-stock-exchange-cyber/> [Accessed 28 November 2020].

Michael, T., (2020). Inside World Of Russia's Cozy Bear Hackers Trying To Steal UK's Covid Vaccine. [online] The Sun. Available at: <https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12141719/cozy-bear-russian-hackers-steal-britains-coronavirus-vaccines/> [Accessed 28 November 2020].

CERTNZ, (2019). Financial Sector Targeted In Blackmail Campaign | CERT NZ. [online] CERT NZ. Available at: <https://www.cert.govt.nz/individuals/alerts/financial-sector-targeted-in-blackmail-campaign/> [Accessed 28 November 2020].

RNZ, (2020). Cyber Attacks On Stock Exchange Could Affect Many New Zealanders - NZ Herald. [online] NZ Herald. Available at: <https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/cyber-attacks-on-stock-exchange-could-affect-many-new-zealanders/2FFUFGBR4JXUUU27BGG4B3ANKY/> [Accessed 28 November 2020].

Farrer, M., (2020). New Zealand Stock Exchange Hit By Cyber Attack For Second Day. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/aug/26/new-zealand-stock-exchange-hit-by-cyber-attack-for-second-day> [Accessed 28 November 2020].

BBC, (2020). New Zealand Stock Exchange Halted By Cyber-Attack. [online] BBC News. Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/53918580> [Accessed 28 November 2020].