Clare
CURRAN
Communications and IT Spokesperson

9 April 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT

Security flaw left 63,000 documents vulnerable
Fresh claims that 63,000 Ministry of Justice documents may have been publicly accessible due a serious security flaw in the Ministry’s website give the lie to Judith Collins’ attempts to downplay the problem, says Clare Curran Labour’s Communication and IT spokesperson.

“A second person has this afternoon come forward and said that significant flaws in the Ministry website allowed easy access to more than 63,000 documents via the Tenancy Tribunal section of the website.

“I have been told that these are basic security flaws not requiring a lot of computer programming knowledge.

“I note that parts of the website were shut down today after I notified the Ministry of the security hole. That confirms that this is a serious security issue.

“At 9.30am Labour provided the Ministry of Justice, the Minister and the Privacy Commissioner with information about the security vulnerability and offered to put the Ministry in contact with the whistle-blower who identified the problem.

“Labour waited three hours before making the information public in order to give the Ministry the time to identify the problem and take any immediate action necessary.

“The Minister is attempting to divert attention from the seriousness of the gaping hole in the website’s security by claiming it was a malicious hack. Yet the whistle-blower has offered to explain what happened to the Ministry and help it address the problem. Those are not the actions of a malicious hacker.

“Judith Collins and her government are once again attacking the messenger. They are treating the public’s private information with disdain, and New Zealanders deserve better,” says Clare Curran.

ENDS

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