Authorities believe the bomb threats may have come from an overseas cyber bot, just 24 hours after there were hoax calls to four other New Zealand schools.
At least a dozen schools across New Zealand received bomb threats on Thursday, causing widespread disruption in what is believed to have been an overseas cyber-attack.The threats come after four other schools received them 24 hours priorMany of the schools involved were either locked down or evacuated as a result.
The fresh wave of threats came 24 hours after hoax calls to four New Zealand schools on Wednesday in Waikato, Thames and Gisborne on the North Island. President of New Zealand's Principal's Federation Cherie Taylor-Patel told Radio NZ that she had spoken to the Ministry of Education, whose "understanding is that this was actually a cyber bot coming in from overseas".However, authorities said they were still investigating threats to schools in Marlborough, Masterton, Kaikoura, Greymouth, Queenstown, Levin, Whanganui, Rolleston, Takaka, Geraldine, Dunstan, Ashburton and Palmerston North.
Tasman area commander Simon Feltham said they were speaking to "two young people" over a threat made against Marlborough Girls' College.There was a similar incident in 2016 when schools across New Zealand and Australia received hoax calls that there were live bombs on their premises. In 2018, an Israeli-American was jailed for 10 years by a court in Israel for making about 2,000 hoax threats in North America, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Denmark.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
A new parliament, a new government and a new political divide: masksAll Labor MPs, plus all teals and Greens, wore face masks but almost all Liberal and Nationals MPs appeared bare-faced in parliament. auspol
Read more »
A new parliament, a new government and a new political divide: masksSketch: A peculiarly pandemic-era approach to distinguishing the political victors from the vanquished revealed itself as the ranks of parliamentarians assembled | tonyowright
Read more »
‘A wonderful time’: New Zealand politician, on a Hawaiian holiday, tells Kiwis he’s hard at workThe blooper recalls a defining moment from Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, who covered up his own holiday in Hawaii taken during savage bushfires in December 2019.
Read more »
Australia urged to join New Zealand in tobacco ‘endgame’New Zealand-style laws to eradicate tobacco would be a game changer in closing the gap between the life expectancy of Indigenous and white Australians, experts say. | melbchief
Read more »
Australia urged to join New Zealand in tobacco ‘endgame’New Zealand-style laws to eradicate tobacco would be a game changer in closing the gap between the life expectancy of Indigenous and white Australians, experts say.
Read more »
New Zealand COVID-19 cases trend downwards as the country avoids feared infection peakNew Zealand's Health Director-General says the country's predicted worst-case scenario is now 'highly unlikely' after, in the past seven days, the country recorded, on average, 8,111 new cases daily of COVID-19, down from the previous week.
Read more »