Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens has been the target of a cyber attack that has left it unable to use its IT systems. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens has been the target of a cyber attack that has left it unable to use its IT systems. Photo / Bevan Conley
Twelve Whanganui kindergartens are back to using pen and paper after a cyber attack left their head office IT systems crippled.
Whānau Manaaki has instructed all of its 101 kindergartens across the central and lower North Island to switch off laptops and computers after a ransomware attack left their devicesvulnerable to exploitation.
Ransomware is the term used to describe cyber attacks that infiltrate existing platforms, encrypting and copying all data and demanding a ransom to return the data.
Currently, the attack appears to only have affected the organisation's Porirua head office, but there are concerns that if devices are used the attack could become more widespread.
The attack appears to have originated from Kaseya - an IT management company that provides software to small to medium businesses including Whānau Manaaki.
Eleven schools have also been targeted as a result of the attack, with St Peter's School in Cambridge now gearing up to be without their systems for an extended period of time.
Macleans College in Auckland was also targeted, but the attack appeared to have missed most of the school's system.
Staff at Whānau Manaaki's Whanganui office declined to comment on Tuesday and referred all questions to the organisation's head office in Porirua, which did not respond to requests for comment.
However, chief executive Amanda Coulston told RNZ late on Monday that work was being undertaken to see how widespread the breach was.
Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens was open as usual in Whanganui on Tuesday, but referred all questions to the Porirua head office. Photo / Bevan Conley
"Everyone should keep their laptops and computers off and then if they need to communicate they do it through the iPad. So that just gives us time to do the work and just identify if we have been compromised or not," Coulston said.
"Essentially they're going through every one of our machines and working their way through and identifying if anything happened. There are so many unknowns with this attack.
"We wouldn't want anything of ours going out to a Russian hacking group. We are hopeful over the next day or two that we will have a much better idea."
In a statement to the Chronicle, a Ministry of Education spokeswoman said other than the 11 schools and one early childhood provider that had been targeted, they were not aware of any other institution falling victim to the attack.
"Parents need to know that if there is anyone whose personal information has been impacted by this they will be contacted by their education provider directly," the spokeswoman said.
In mid-May the Waikato District Health Board was hit by the biggest-ever cyber attack on a New Zealand organisation.
The attack crippled systems and staff at Waikato, Thames, Te Kuiti, Taumarunui and Tokoroa hospitals had to use pen and paper and rely on manual processes to keep treating the region's patients. Hundreds of surgeries and outpatient appointments were cancelled.
