Neighbourly, the Stuff-owned platform hit by a major cyber breach, has gone to court to stop the spread of stolen data.
The High Court in Auckland has verified that it has received and approved an application for an injunction.
A Neighbourly spokesperson confirmed the platform learned of allegations involving a breach of members’ personal data. Data such as names, email addresses, posts, and messages has allegedly appeared for sale on the dark web.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken the site (Neighbourly.co.nz) down while we investigate,” the spokesperson said.
“We take our data privacy responsibilities seriously and have contacted our members directly, alerting them to the claims, as well as the increase in potential scams during the holiday period and ways to avoid phishing attempts.”
Cybersecurity experts express alarm over the theft of Neighbourly users’ data, with one warning it could endanger lives.
No court date has been scheduled yet.
The ManageMyHealth portal, which holds patient data, also suffered a ransomware attack. Hackers have threatened to leak 400,000 stolen patient documents unless ManageMyHealth pays up $60,000.
It announced that it had submitted court documents requesting an injunction.
The data breach has triggered a government review to assess security measures and whether enhancements should be made.