Local telecom operator CTM said in a statement yesterday that it has submitted a preliminary report concerning Wednesday night’s incident where the websites of several Public Security Forces entities were hit by cyberattacks “from outside Macau”, pledging that it will study the case together with IT professionals from the government with the aim of further improving its ability to tackle similar attacks.
However, the statement insisted that CTM finally “succeeded in blocking the attacks” on Wednesday night.
Five entities under Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak’s portfolio were hit by distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks “from overseas” on Wednesday night, because of which their websites could not be accessed from 8 p.m. that night.
According to specialist websites, a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service or network by overwhelming the target or its surrounding infrastructure with a flood of internet traffic.
The Office of Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak (GSS) announced the cyberattacks in a statement at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The five entities whose websites could not be accessed on Wednesday night comprised Wong’s office (GSS), Public Security Police (PSP), Fire Services Bureau (CB), Macau Public Security Forces Affairs Bureau (DSFSM), and Macau Public Security Forces Academy (ESFSM).
All of the five affected entities’ websites could be accessed again before midnight, on Wednesday night.
The websites of the other four entities under Wong’s portfolio, namely the Unitary Police Service (SPU), Macau Customs Service, Judiciary Police (PJ), and Correctional Services Bureau (DSC), were not affected by cyberattacks on Wednesday night.
The GSS statement also said that the Judiciary Police (PJ) had meanwhile launched a criminal investigation to identify the source of the cyberattacks.
CTM fails to block DDoS attacks: DSFSM
The Macau Public Security Forces Affairs Bureau (DSFSM) announced more information on Wednesday night’s cyberattacks in a follow-up statement at 1:30 a.m. yesterday, according to which the bureau had ordered CTM, which is tasked with blocking DDoS attacks on Macau’s internet service, to carry out an investigation into the incident and submit a report on its findings as well as detailing its improved measures aiming to prevent similar incidents from occurring again.
The DSFSM statement said that after CTM worked with DSFSM IT professionals, the five websites’ services resumed at 8:45 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the statement said, those using CTM’s service, either broadband or mobile networks, still could not access the five websites at that time, while those using other local telecom operators’ services could. The statement said that those using CTM services could only access the five websites again from 11:13 p.m. also on Wednesday.
Large-scale attacks
Yesterday’s CTM statement described Wednesday night’s cyberattacks on the five websites as “large-scale DDoS attacks from outside Macau”.
The statement pledged that CTM will “invite” IT professionals from the government to carry out a study and review of, together with their CTM counterparts, the operational logs, data records, and possible improved measures, related to Wednesday night’s incident, with the aim of establishing a network security mechanism with a higher standard on tackling similar attacks.
This undated handout photo downloaded from CTM’s website yesterday shows its branch in Taipa.
