System breach confirmed at Barbados Statistical Service

he Barbados Statistical Service (BSS)  is investigating a breach of its system.
In a statement issued today, the BSS, which provides key economic and social statistics, said “ongoing investigations suggest that the systems of the BSS were breached on October 30, 2024, and that data was obtained by malicious actors.”
It added that the Data Commissioner was advised of the breach.
The BSS said that within 24 hours of the intrusion into its system, an incident response team was mobilised and deployed by the relevant authority, along with BSS IT staff, to contain the incident and investigate the scope of the breach.
“The incident has been contained, systems taken offline, and the investigations so far reveal that most of the information involved in this incident relates to survey data gathered primarily for statistical research purposes and then aggregated. The teams are still in the early stages of their investigations and are currently in the process of restoring data and services from secured backups,” it said.
The BSS said that over the coming days and weeks, it will ensure that its systems are appropriately hardened to reduce the probability of a recurrence. It pledged to keep the public updated and advise on any relevant action that should be taken at the individual level to stay safe online following this event.