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Ministry of Justice kiosks shut down

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Ministry of Justice kiosks shut down

3News NZ

A security issue was found in the Work and Income kiosks last week

A security issue was found in the Work and Income kiosks last week

The Ministry of Justice has been forced to shut down its computer kiosks because of a security issue, it's been reported.

An urgent security review over the last few days has found issues with what information the kiosks could access, One News reports.

The shutdown comes after the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) took down its 700 public kiosks on Sunday after blogger Keith Ng revealed the computers could be used to access sensitive data on the agency's server.

The Ministry of Justice has three computer kiosks at its national office, which are used for printing visitors' passes, while there are a number of kiosks at the Maori Land Court that visitors can access a database on.

The ministry says it's confident no private information has been accessed, but would not say whether the kiosks could be used to access private networks.

The Department of Internal Affairs says it's not aware of any other government departments that have been forced to shut down kiosks.

State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie has asked the government's Chief Information Officer Colin McDonald to carry out an urgent review of all of the state sector's publicly-accessible systems.

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Comments

20/10/2012 12:23:37 p.m.

Mike wrote:

Will be interesting what the investigation finds.

Its obvious not all department info is accessible as there is too little of it. Reminds me of a network issue I experienced 20 years ago, where staff broke protocol and used space on the network they found, which just happened to be accessible to everyone.

Its quite likely the kiosks had their seperate mapping to be empty and secure, and then some public servants decided it was a good place to store stuff. If this is the case then the data that was there will be connected by the staff who put it there, ie tracable. If it was the whole departmental network unsecure, then it would be much more info accessible than has been reported.

20/10/2012 9:59:07 a.m.

Jim Seaview wrote:

QUOTE: "State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie has asked the government's Chief Information Officer Colin McDonald to carry out an urgent review of all of the state sector's publicly-accessible systems." AGAIN - A Government department is used to check another Government department. Is like asking a very happy and fat cat to investigate the two missing saucers of cream???? IRD, ACC, MSD and now the Ministry of Justice and not to mention the new NOVAPAY computer pay system with the Ministry of Education. Again the hard working, overtaxed, overRated, diligent, struggling taxpayer is not receiving good value for their tax dollars.

20/10/2012 9:34:00 a.m.

alison wrote:

Even if files were compromised I am sure we wouldnt hear from this govt. Their total lack of responsibility is well known. Who would put such kiosks in place and not have checks done routinely for security. And even worse when breaches are found they do nothing. Governor general how much must we put up with before you act in the countrys best interests.

20/10/2012 9:21:45 a.m.

bukster wrote:

So this is a different story to the Ministry of Social Development issue? It's happened again within a week? When I heard this on the news I presumed it was the same story .

20/10/2012 9:17:04 a.m.

Kathy wrote:

ACC, Winz, The ministry of Justice, the new paye system at the ministry of education, when will people learn that National never improves anything they just make it worse. What else can you expect from the brain fade kings?.

19/10/2012 9:48:39 p.m.

M wrote:

National you are sooo good at running the country. More stuff ups please.

19/10/2012 9:33:55 p.m.

Just Me wrote:

As is wont of this clown-act PM called John Key he again resorts to blaming the blogger who got into the WINZ computer rather than his other 'best mate' Paula Bennett for the Privacy breach.He must resort to blaming anyone albeit a journalist who 'left' a recording device on a coffee table at a Newmarket cafe whilst Key and Banksie are are having 'coffee hour'.r. The guy is scrambling for straws in an ever decreasing raft of straws that come apart as the water-shed(of new revelations)come to public attention. Keith Ng did the right thing about making public this situation.The government most likely knew about this insecure information long before Keith Ng mentioned it.In fact I am sure the government knew about it more than a year ago and long before last years' general election.Blaming Citizen Ng and Citizen Ambrose for the mistakes of his government and him shows how low the guy is willing to go.Key and co are shallow and hollow people who are only in the job for ego and prestige.Taking responsibility for their actions is a totally alien concept/belief for them.Blsme someone else is the easiest option.Pity these fools are the ones we allowed to run this country into the ground.