DDoS attack hits New Zealand Stock Exchange

 

Reports that the New Zealand Stock Exchange has been hit by a DDos attack halting trading highlights why Exchanges around the World need to beef up their cybersecurity defences.

“Stock exchanges are a critical function of national and global economies, making them an attractive target for cybercriminals,” says Satnam Narang, Staff Research Engineer at Tenable (www.tenable.com).

“It’s certainly concerning that a DDoS attack was successful at halting trading on the New Zealand stock exchange for multiple days, whether or not financial information was accessed.  These events should serve as an alarm bell for the exchange to investigate its defences against cyberattacks as well as launch a broader investigation into the strength of its overall security posture.”

“Similar DDoS attacks have been attempted on other stock exchanges in the past. However, that was quite a long time ago and DDoS attacks have gotten more sophisticated,” continues Narang.

“As financial organizations become more reliant on the Internet of Things (IoT), cybercriminals can leverage unpatched devices to launch stronger, more sophisticated DDoS attacks.  Until organizations get their hands around the new devices and vulnerabilities in their environments, DDoS attacks will continue to be a threat.”