Unidentified offshore business has recovered from last week’s cyber-attack, Telecommunications Minister reports

A local offshore enterprise reportedly was the victim of a recent cyber-attack, but has dealt with the problem, says MP Melford Nicholas.

Nicholas, the Minister of Information and Telecommunications, says the event, which occurred one day last week, hampered the offshore enterprise.

Reportedly, he told Cabinet colleagues that the incident was a deliberate attack, which ensured that the company’s computer systems could not function normally.

According to Nicholas, “The action had some impact on other businesses in Antigua and Barbuda that use the same carriers for their Internet traffic.”

The Minister says the challenge of getting the business fully operational was successfully met and the operation is now restored to normalcy. The business was not identified, however.

It was earlier this month, November, that the Community First Cooperative Credit Union (CFCCU) reported issues with its network; but these, too, have since been rectified.

Many speculated, then, that it could have been a virus attack or a hacking that impacted both of the credit union’s branches and its Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

However, other than saying it was working to address the issues, the financial institution never said what had caused the problem.

At one point, a daily maximum withdrawal of only $200 was being allowed, since all its ATMs were not functional and online access was unavailable.