NZ stock market website down again

The disruption comes after a series of cyber attacks last week.

The information of stocks that lost in prices are displayed on an electronic board inside the Australian Securities Exchange. Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

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11.50am: NZ stock market website crashes again

The New Zealand stock market’s website crashed again on Monday, the fifth day in row after a series of cyber attacks last week hit the bourse’s ability to operate normally, but trading was unaffected.

The disruption came about an hour after NZX said it had agreed with the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) on a back-up plan for the release of market announcements in the event of another attack, allowing it to keep local markets open.

A spokesman for NZX confirmed the website was down, but said trading on its platform, which began at 10.00 a.m. local time (2200 GMT), was continuing as usual through the contingency arrangements.

The information of stocks that lost in prices are displayed on an electronic board inside the Australian Securities Exchange, operated by ASX Ltd., in Sydney, Australia, on Friday, July 24, 2015. Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

NZX faced disruptions for four days last week when it was hit repeatedly by distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, a common way to disrupt a server by overwhelming it with a flood of internet traffic.

The attacks affected NZX’s ability to publish market announcements to the public, forcing it to halt trading in order to maintain market integrity, it said.

The closures halted share market trading and disrupted operations in its debt market, Fonterra Shareholders Market and derivatives market.

The bourse said it is working with its network’s service provider, Spark, government cybersecurity agencies, and a US-based cybersecurity firm Akamai to implement additional security measures.

“NZX has been advised by independent cyber specialists that the attacks last week are among the largest, most well-resourced and sophisticated they have ever seen in New Zealand,” NZX’s Chief Executive, Mark Peterson said in a statement on Monday.

Reuters

David Swan 10.45am: Huawei dumps Raiders sponsorship

Chinese telco Huawei says its role as major sponsor of the Canberra Raiders NRL team will end this season due to “the continued negative business environment” it faces in Australia.

In this file photo the logo of Chinese company Huawei is seen on the screen of a Huawei mobile phone in London on July 14, 2020. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP)

The company – branded “high risk” by the federal government and banned from contributing to Australia’s 5G network – has been the team’s major sponsor for a decade.

Its sponsorship of the Raiders is believed to worth about $1 million a season.

Read more.

9.45am: TikTok influencers say ‘everyone will take a big hit’

In a luxury mansion in the Hollywood Hills, young TikTok influencers bounced around on a bright sunny morning this week trying out new ideas for zany short form videos that they hope will go viral.

They’re also feeling concerned about their future.

Kids Next Door LA is one of a number of TikTok houses set up around the United States where teens live, sleep and brainstorm creative ideas for dance and music videos and seek deals with brands that can bring in millions of dollars for the top influencers.

But their livelihoods are now at risk from an executive order by US President Donald Trump that will effectively ban the social media app if its Chinese parent ByteDance does not reach a deal to divest it by mid-September.

Mum Sarah Carpenter and son Michael Coleman playing on the mobile app Tiktok in Sydney December 28, 2019. Sunday Telegraph/ Gaye Gerard

“For two to five months, maybe, everybody is going to take a big hit. Everyone is going to lose a stream of revenue. I think it’s really stupid ... what Trump is doing,” said Adam Miguest 27, known on TikTok as @itsadamm, who is one of the seven influencers at the house.

Walmart said this week it was joining Microsoft in a bid for TikTok’s US assets. ByteDance is expected to pick a bidder to enter into exclusive talks as early as Friday but it’s not clear how any deal would affect the future of the quirky videos that are loved by millions and those who make them.

Claire Hesser, 18, a former beauty queen, says TikTok has quickly become a huge part of youth culture.

“I feel like if it gets taken away, I feel it’s going to hurt more rather than benefit. ... I just wish that they understood that TikTok really does have an impact on our world today and our generation especially,” she said.

It’s not just the influencers that any changes could affect, but also brands seeking to do business with them.

“Maybe people shut down sales in store and they were going to do a e-commerce strategy that involved TikTok. It could affect a lot of industries - especially the music industry because so many songs go viral from TikTok,” said Ariadna Jacob, whose company manages Kids Next Door LA.

Hailey Orona, known online as @real.ona, has 9.5 million followers on TikTok and is about to launch her own beauty line. But she also has 2.8 million followers on Instagram to fall back on.

“If it does get banned, I have a back-up plan, of course, which is to move to the YouTube platform or use the Reels on Instagram,” Orona said.

Reuters