The head of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has said that claims last week of a cyberattack on the Department of Foreign Affairs were false.
Richard Browne said his office immediately launched an investigation after cyber criminals posted online that they had stolen data from the department and were offering it for sale.
“These weren’t hackers, they were essentially scammers who pretended they had stolen a significant amount of data from the Department of Foreign Affairs and posted that they were seeking a ransom for that,” Mr Browne said.
“We launched an immediate investigation, but it was very clear very quickly that there was no significant compromise, if any compromise at all, but we acted as if there were to be sure there were no gaps, no vulnerabilities, no issues or risks to public sector data,” he added.
The alleged hackers subsequently posted online that they had not stolen data from the department and that it had been a scam.
“It happens from time-to-time, these are all criminals, so it is not surprising that some criminals are just less good at being criminals than others,” Mr Browne said.
He speaking to reporters after delivering an address at a major cybersecurity conference taking place in Dublin today.
‘Zero Day Con’ is an annual convention focussed on tackling the latest online threats.
Hundreds of delegates are hearing from speakers in the fields of industry, law enforcement, medicine and education.
The conference theme is ‘evolve’ to reflect how the cyber environment is constantly changing particularly when it comes to the ever increasing number and type of threats facing organisations at all levels.
