HAMILTON, Bermuda – The Bermuda government has maintained its silence on whether or not a ransom has been made as the British Overseas Territory continues to grapple with a “cyber attack” that severely hampered government information systems.
Premier David Burt flanked by members of his Cabinet at news conference (CMC Photo)Premier David Burt told reporters that while there has been ”a whole lot of speculation” regarding the cyber attack last Thursday, “our focus is making sure we get government systems up and running safely”.
Unlike last week, when he said “at this point in time appear that any data has been taken”, Premier Burt refused on Monday during the news conference to say whether there had been a data breach,.
“The investigation efforts are still ongoing, and it would not be wise for me to comment on specifics at this time. Once the investigation is done, we will do our responsibility to be full and transparent,” he said.
He told reporters that there was “some information that I will not be able to divulge at this time” adding that several affected offices were now back on line.
But he acknowledged that the attack had brought “unprecedented stress” across the government system, calling it a national security issue.
“I want to reassure that there has been a non-stop effort to identify what happened, how it happened, and resume business and normal operations safely,” he said, adding that the relevant authorities including the police and the Department of Information and Digital Technology have been tackling the problem.
“Once it became clear that this was not an ordinary interruption to the network, in accordance with best practices, all government network users were immediately directed to disconnect and shut down all devices connected to the network.”
Burt said the full Cabinet has met four times since Thursday and Governor Rena Lalgie is reported to have met with the Premier, the Attorney-General, the national security minister and the Tourism and Cabinet office minister.
Last Friday, Lalgie, said that cybersecurity teams in Britain were assisting in finding a solution confirming the government IT systems were subjected to a “major cyberattack” and “that incident is ongoing.
“Whilst there was an early indication of the geographical source of that attack, any further speculation on the possible source or motivation for the attack would be unhelpful,” she said.
Burt who said it would be “inappropriate” for him to discuss what was said in the meeting, told reporters that just as weekly-paid government workers were paid on Friday and Saturday, monthly-paid employees would have their pay at the end of this week as scheduled.
He said transport, education and the hospital were “operating without interruption”, and government was “working on a timeline that persons can follow” insisting that the “next several days will be critical” for recovery and “no resources are being spared”.
Burt during the news conference defended his decision to travel to the United States after the cyber attack to attend the annual meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
“Government leadership is not just about the moment but consistently having an eye on the future,” Burt said, adding that the meetings with “key legislators” had in some cases taken “months to secure” and that discussions to “advance direct foreign investment in Bermuda was necessary”.
He said he had remained “fully connected to the issues here at home”.
