Bank Negara Temporarily Suspends CCRIS Access For Agencies After Alleged Cyber Attack

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has temporarily suspended all access to the Credit Control Reference Information System (CCRIS). The suspension comes after what is believed to have been a cyberattack by hackers whose target was the personal data of all individuals available on the CCRIS database.

It should be pointed out that the suspension has affected all credit reporting agencies (CRAs), chief among them being CTOS, Credit Bureau Malaysia, and Experian. In light of the cyberattack and with regards to Experian, the agency says that it has temporarily paused its services to the BNM-owned CCRIS. Further, the agency also says that it has conducted its own in-depth security investigations into the matter and says that it found no evidence that its systems, servers, or facilities had been compromised during the cyberattack.

CTOS also made a similar statement, stating that all of its assets were secure, despite the attack. In an effort to allay any fears among its clientele, the credit agency also made its CTOS SecureID to them, should they decide that they would like to monitor the dark web for any evidence of their personal data being sold.

BNM has also assured users that access will be restored once CRAs gain control over their own security. In the meantime, it says that financial consumers can continue to access their CCRIS reports via the provided link.

At the time of writing, BNM has yet to confirm if an investigation is underway. However, considering that the attack caused BNM to suspend all access to CCRIS, it is highly likely that the threat actors who attacked its security are individuals with advanced knowledge of the system’s API.

JBS paid $11 million in ransomware attack

Meatpacker JBS USA paid the equivalent of $11 million ransom in a cyberattack that disrupted its North American and Australian operations, the company’s CEO said in a statement on Wednesday.

The subsidiary of Brazilian firm JBS SA (JBSS3.SA) halted cattle slaughtering at all of its U.S. plants for a day last week in response to the cyberattack, which threatened to disrupt food supply chains and further inflate already high food prices.

The cyberattack followed one last month on Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the United States. It disrupted fuel delivery for several days in the U.S. Southeast.

The JBS meat plants, producing nearly a quarter of America's beef, recovered faster than some meat buyers and analysts expected.

"This was a very difficult decision to make for our company and for me personally," said Andre Nogueira, CEO of JBS USA of the ransom payment. "However, we felt this decision had to be made to prevent any potential risk for our customers."

The Brazilian meatpacker’s arm in the United States and Pilgrims Pride Corp (PPC.O), a U.S. chicken company mostly owned by JBS, lost less than one day’s worth of food production. JBS is the world’s largest meat producer.

Third parties are carrying out forensic investigations and no final determinations have been made, JBS said. No company, customer or employee data was compromised in the attack, it said.

A Russia-linked hacking group is behind the cyberattack against JBS, a source familiar with the matter said last week. The Russia-linked cyber gang goes by the name REvil and Sodinokibi, the source said.

The Wall Street journal reported on Wednesday that the JBS ransom payment was made in bitcoin.

The Justice Department on Monday recovered some $2.3 million in cryptocurrency ransom paid by Colonial Pipeline Co, cracking down on hackers who launched the attack.