20 December, 2017
New Zealand concerned at North Korean cyber activity
The Director-General of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), Andrew Hampton says he is concerned at
international reports which link North Korea to WannaCry.
WannaCry was a significant global ransomware campaign, launched in May 2017, which encrypted data and demanded a ransom
payment to unlock computers in over 150 countries, and significantly affected the UK’s National Health Service.
“Cyber threat analysis from a range of sources, including the United States and the United Kingdom, attributes WannaCry
to North Korean cyber threat actors,” Mr Hampton said.
“While New Zealand was not significantly impacted by WannaCry, we are not immune from this type of threat. In a globally
connected world our relative geographic isolation offers no protection from cyber threats.
“We support the actions of our cyber security partners in calling out this sort of reckless and malicious cyber
activity.
“In the 12 months from June 2016 to June 2017 more than one third (122) of the 396 serious incidents recorded by the
GCSB’s National Cyber Security Centre involved indicators that have previously been linked to state-sponsored actors.
“Cyber threats continue to increase, in part because of New Zealand’s global connectivity but also because the cost
barriers are low, and getting lower, while the potential for harm is vast.
“The GCSB has two main functions, collecting intelligence in accordance with the Government’s priorities and providing
cyber security and information assurance services to organisations of national significance, from both the public and
private sector.
“As part of this work, the Cortex cyber security programme has been rolled out to a group of nationally significant
organisations in the public and private sectors.
“An independent assessment of the Cortex programme showed that over a 12 month period it has saved New Zealand’s most
important organisations around $40 million in harm.”
A copy of the 2016-17 Unclassified Cyber Threat Report can be accessed here.
ENDs