By Penny Smith
The cyber security agency is emailing about 26,000 people warning about malware which could steal sensitive information, like email addresses and passwords. Photo: 123RF
The country's cyber agency is alerting tens of thousands of New Zealanders that their device has been infected with malicious software.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) was sending emails to around 26,000 email addresses on Wednesday warning about the malware Lumma Stealer, which was designed to steal sensitive information like email addresses and passwords.
Some of the stolen passwords were connected to government agency systems and bank accounts.
The NCSC's chief operating officer, Michael Jagusch, said it was the first time the agency had contacted so many people.
"We have worked with New Zealand government agencies and financial institutions to help protect their affected customers. However, there is a large group of users we are now contacting directly," he said.
"Malicious software like this is relatively common, but this is a very significant amount of New Zealanders that we know have been impacted by this and that's why we are doing the outreach at this scale."
Lumma Stealer was designed to go undetected and typically infected devices using Microsoft Windows operating systems.
"The malware's purpose is to give these cybercriminals information that might let them gain access to your account and ultiumately these cyber criminals are looking to steal money," Jagusch said.
"They might also use the information for further attacks ... They might be able to create more tailored phishing emails against you and your family."
Jagusch said it's unlikely the affected people were targeted.
"These people would have unknowingly downloaded the software by clicking a link within a phising email or downloading the software from a compromised website," he said.
Jagusch added that Lumma Stealer was available for purchase on the dark web.
"There has been a real commercialisation of the cyber crime industry, meaning that malware like this can be purchased by anyone, anywhere in the world," he said.
The NCSC was alerted to the attack through an international threat sharing forum.
The agency wanted people who received the email to go to its Own Your Online website for advice on what to look for and how to remove the malware, or to contact an IT provider for help.
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