Roban very heart of public service has been attacked and immobilised The Royal Gazette Bermuda News Business Sports Events amp Community

pppCybersecurity and national crime teams in Britain are supporting authorities in Bermuda after a major cyberattack that brought down government IT systems the Governor said yesterdayppRena Lalgie highlighted that although there was an early suggestion of where the strike originated further speculation on the source was unhelpfulppHer comments came after David Burt the Premier said the initial indication was that the disruption came from an external source most likely from RussiappIn a statement Ms Lalgie said Bermudas government IT systems were subjected to a major cyberattack That incident is ongoingppWhilst there was an early indication of the geographical source of that attack any further speculation on the possible source or motivation for the attack would be unhelpfulppI can confirm that the UKs National Cybersecurity Centre and the National Crime Agency are aware of the incident have been in contact with the Bermuda authorities and are providing advice to support themppThe Bermuda authorities are also receiving support from a range of commercial partnersppShe added Government will advise on the ongoing impacts to services of this attack on a regular basisppI am working with the Acting Premier Cabinet and the Bermuda Police Service to support the immediate responseppThe Government advised members of the public yesterday that its telephone internet and email systems were disrupted and that all departments were affectedppMr Burt said later The Government is experiencing some challenges with our IT systemsppThere has been an incident which is affecting not only the Bermuda Government but some other regional governments as wellppOur initial indication is its come from an external source most likely from Russia and we are working with agencies to make sure that we can identify any particular challenges and make sure that services are restored as quickly as possibleppInterruptions to services continued yesterdayppIn an earlymorning post on social media the Government said there would be a full press briefing later in the day to update the publicppWalter Roban the Acting Premier addressed MPs in the House of Assembly on matters of crucial national importanceppHe said At approximately 10pm on Wednesday September 20 Governments IT systems experienced a serious cyberattack which resulted in the disruption of services across government departmentsppAn immediate investigation has commenced by the Department of Information and Digital Technology and the matter was reported to the Bermuda Police Service who also commenced an investigationppThe cybersecurity committee was convened to review this matterppMr Roban added that the department took immediate action and started work on systems containmentppHe said the IDT team closely worked with internal and external resources on restoration and recoveryppHe told the House Government has ongoing contact with Government House and we are grateful for the support from the UK National Cybersecurity CentreppIt is recognised that this regrettable incident will cause concern to many in our community and we will continue to regularly update the publicppI do not want people to underestimate some of the sensitive security issues and international issues around this matterppMr Roban said The very heart of public service has been attacked and immobilisedppMPs heard that members of the international business community contacted the Government to help and that local banks offered assistance with making sure that certain obligations that the Government has over the upcoming days and weeks will be metppMr Roban said that the Government financial institutions large corporations and even individual citizens have clearly been violated by this incidentppHe added As we go through this process I just wish to assure everyone in this House and the country that the work is being done around the clockppMany people are not sleeping to get this rectified and I can assure the country and this House that we will get the answers that are desiredppThe Acting Premier highlighted I would remind people this is a very delicate situationppThere are international implications around some of the issues that have arisen as a result of thisppA UK Government spokesman said later The UK takes its responsibilities in the Overseas Territories seriouslyppWe have a longstanding convention that we do not comment on security mattersppWe are in close contact with the authorities in Bermuda following a cyber incident and offering them advice and supportppService disruption included systems at the Magistrates Court which meant staff worked manually to get through the days businessppAt the General Post Office documents could be accepted for post but not packages or parcels and cash or cheque payments could be made but not card paymentsppWalter Roban the Acting Premier has insisted that although the cyberattack had penetrated the very heart of public service Bermuda was still open for businessppIn a statement this evening Mr Roban who is also the Minister of Home Affairs listed a host of government services that had continued to function after IT systems had been demobilisedppHe reassured residents that emergency services had not been affected by the attackppHe said I can advise that from a national security perspective 911 system has not been disrupted an there are no expected delays in responses by emergency servicesppThere are no operational disruptions to Customs Corrections the Regiment or the PoliceppHe said that motorists were able to license vehicles online while the Transport Control Department was able to process driving riding and vehicle exams manuallyppThe courts were also expected to operate as usual with cashiers processing payments manually although Supreme Court hearings were expected to be limitedppMr Roban added that there was minimal impact on schools or at the Department of Child and Family ServicesppWorkpermit applications at the Department of Immigration were being collected and a drop box was being collected throughout the dayppThe envelopes are being opened and applications datestamped as proof of receipt then placed on hold until we can process using our normal systems Mr Roban saidppThe Department of Consumer Affairs was accepting walkin and phonein clients while the Post Office is delivering letter mailppMr Roban said They are giving some customers their packages with a promise to sign off to pay laterppThe MyBermudaPost website is also operational with orders being processed manuallyppLF Wade International Airport is also fully operational although passenger processing is being carried out manually and all passengers must complete an arrival card upon landingppWalter Roban the Acting Premier has insisted that although the cyberattack had penetrated the very heart of public service Bermuda was still open for businessppIn a statement this evening Mr Roban who is also the Minister of Home Affairs listed a host of government services that had continued to function after IT systems had been demobilisedppHe reassured residents that emergency services had not been affected by the attackppHe said I can advise that from a national security perspective 911 system has not been disrupted an there are no expected delays in responses by emergency servicesppThere are no operational disruptions to Customs Corrections the Regiment or the PoliceppHe said that motorists were able to license vehicles online while the Transport Control Department was able to process driving riding and vehicle exams manuallyppThe courts were also expected to operate as usual with cashiers processing payments manually although Supreme Court hearings were expected to be limitedppMr Roban added that there was minimal impact on schools or at the Department of Child and Family ServicesppWorkpermit applications at the Department of Immigration were being collected and a drop box was being collected throughout the dayppThe envelopes are being opened and applications datestamped as proof of receipt then placed on hold until we can process using our normal systems Mr Roban saidppThe Department of Consumer Affairs was accepting walkin and phonein clients while the Post Office is delivering letter mailppMr Roban said They are giving some customers their packages with a promise to sign off to pay laterppThe MyBermudaPost website is also operational with orders being processed manuallyppLF Wade International Airport is also fully operational although passenger processing is being carried out manually and all passengers must complete an arrival card upon landingppThe Bermuda Health Council said there were disruptions to its registration process and added Please be advised that until this matter is resolved our ability to respond to inquiries and process registrations will be limitedppAn HSBC spokeswoman said there was no negative impact on the bank as a result of the disruption but added that it was supporting the Government and helping to find a pragmatic solutionppButterfield Banks systems were unaffected a spokesman said He added We are working with stakeholders to supportppWe advise clients to stay vigilant against cybercrime every day and to protect themselves by keeping their details safeppOur dedicated security and fraud webpage has more information and tipsppIt is understood talks took place at Clarien Bank to support people who might become low on funds as a result of the cyberattackppDouglas De Couto a One Bermuda Alliance senator highlighted that it was important to know which essential government services were affected and the extent of the impactppHe wrote in a statement posted to X formerly known as Twitter that the Premier was now reportedly off the island and absent from his responsibilitiesppDr De Couto added Furthermore in light of the recent cyberattack that impacted and took government infrastructure offline the public deserve answersppWe need to know which essential services have been affected and the extent of this impactppWhat exactly did this cyberattack compromise and whose private data may have been breached or lostppThe island has been met with nothing but silence and this is no way to run a governmentppIts clear Premier David Burt and the PLP government have checked outppFernando de Deus the chief executive of Ingine a technical solutions company that offers IT security services highlighted how organisations could be targeted even if a range of protective measures were usedppSpeaking in general terms and not commenting specifically on the Governments practices or the incident he said It could happen to anybody you could just be unlucky Its not something that youre prepared forppHe pointed out that an organisations first line of defence was its peopleppMr de Deus said You could have a number of things in place but your user is unfortunately your biggest threat so an excellent information security awareness programme is vital to any organisationppYes you need visibility you need to have controls in place thats all great but you also have to ensure that all your users are aware of the dangers are aware they shouldnt be clicking on thingsppHe explained that visibility related to having a clear picture of where people and resources such as devices were located and how they were usedppMr de Deus added I cannot stress enough the importance of having strong security controls in place and multifactor authentication is keypp Have you been affected by the IT systems disruption Please email newsroyalgazettecomppYou must be Registered or Signed in to post comment or to voteppppppppYour thoughts on Throne Speech 2023ppppView Resultspp
View all Obituaries Place an obituary
p