Share Trading Resumes Today After Cyber Attack Disruption

Kathmandu. The Nepali stock market, which was completely halted for a day due to a cyber attack, is set to reopen today, Tuesday.

Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) has announced that the issue at the Data Hub private limited's data center has been resolved and that trading will commence through the Trade Management System (TMS) of 72 broker companies.

According to NEPSE, share trading will take place today from 11 AM to 3 PM as per the regular timing.

After a ransomware attack on the infrastructure hosted at the Data Hub, the TMS of 72 broker companies could not operate on Monday. Although currently 90 broker companies are active in the market, most of them have been using the shared TMS developed by Vaiko Pvt. Ltd. The backup and infrastructure management has been handled by Data Hub Pvt. Ltd.

‘Technical Problems’ Under Ransomware Threat: NEPSE Closed at Brokers’ Request, SEBON Launches InvestigationTrading was halted after the data center that housed the system of 72 out of 92 brokers was affected; SEBON formed a five-member team and requested a report from NEPSE within seven days

The Data Hub informed Vaiko about the attack on Sunday morning. As the risk of the attack spreading to other connected networks and systems emerged, the affected infrastructure was immediately isolated.

The Data Hub reported that a full backup of the infrastructure was taken prior to the attack and securely stored separately. Following this, the technical team began system security testing, forensic analysis, and restoration work.

Some broker companies had systems in different data centers, allowing them to continue trading. However, since allowing transactions from only limited brokers created unequal access among investors, the entire market was closed on Monday.

With the problem at the data center resolved, NEPSE has decided to resume trading for all investors today. Nevertheless, a detailed technical report on the actual scope of the attack, the affected systems, and whether there was any damage to the data remains pending for public release.

This incident has raised serious questions about the shared digital infrastructure, backup systems, and cybersecurity preparedness in Nepal's capital market.