Gauteng to open criminal case against student who reported a security flaw in its R269-million app

[oros]

Looking for a scapegoat...... ridiculous

 

[Bad Ballie]

PAIA form 2 will get you that info.

Pretty sure that in reality all that really gets you is what they want you to know.

 

[MrGray]

I’m having deja vu. Didn’t something very similar happen with the CoJ (?) about 10 yrs ago? Someone reported on this forum that you could get personally identifiable data by just changing the URL parameters on one of their sites and instead of fixing the problem their response was to try and prosecute the person for hacking.

Ah, yes - found it.

History repeating itself.

City of Joburg opens criminal case against “hacker”

The City of Joburg has opened a criminal case after it said its online billing system was hacked

mybroadband.co.za

 

[Vanessa13]

But we must trust them with digital IDs...

 

[satanboy]

Most democracies now have whistleblower protection laws:

US: Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, False Claims Act, plus the Whistleblower Protection Act for federal employees. SEC/OSHA programs can pay rewards (10–30% of sanctions collected).

EU: The 2019 Whistleblower Directive required member states to set up reporting channels and anti-retaliation rules by 2021–23.

UK: Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 protects workers, but famously requires disclosure to the right person to qualify.

South Africa: Protected Disclosures Act 26 of 2000 (amended 2017) covers employees; the Companies Act adds protections for those reporting corporate fraud.


The reality in practice
Retaliation is common. Studies consistently show a large share of whistleblowers face some form of retaliation — firing, demotion, blacklisting, isolation, or being labeled a troublemaker.

 

[DreamKing]

anc won't solve any problem, anc will "solve" the people who tell what the problem is.

 

[wallace1]

lol

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

anc won't solve any problem, anc will "solve" the people who tell what the problem is.

this, after all look at ADR and his Eskom revelation we all knew to be true, but Eskom kept asking for more increases.

 

[SHL]

"The Gauteng Department of e-Government..."

 

[JerryMungo]

Ah, yes - found it.

History repeating itself.

City of Joburg opens criminal case against “hacker”

The City of Joburg has opened a criminal case after it said its online billing system was hacked

mybroadband.co.za

aaaalmost. Except the case you posted was not a whistleblower.

 

[Napalm2880]

I’m having deja vu. Didn’t something very similar happen with the CoJ (?) about 10 yrs ago? Someone reported on this forum that you could get personally identifiable data by just changing the URL parameters on one of their sites and instead of fixing the problem their response was to try and prosecute the person for hacking.

The original "Joburg hacker", and ex-forum member magicdude4eva.

 

[wingnut771]

What happened with that 10 year old case?

 

[MrGray]

How did this cost R269 million anyway?

From what I can see the initial development was around R2m, the other R267m is for a contract with a company that provides the back end infrastructure, continuous hosting, and integration into the emergency response network.

Even so, I have questions.

 

[wingnut771]

How did this cost R269 million anyway?

From what I can see the initial development was around R2m, the other R267m is for a contract with a company that provides the back end infrastructure, continuous hosting, and integration into the emergency response network.

Even so, I have questions.

This is the real crime.

 

[The_MAC]

The annual return history of the company awarded the tender is interesting, to say the least. Their website also claims over 10 years in business, yet CIPC records show the company was only registered in 2018.

It's always something very dodge like "Jabu's African Free Range Chicken Enterprises TA New-Wave IT Services" - guys become leading experts in the industry overnight..

 

[Jam Sandwich]

But we must trust them with digital IDs...

Cant be trusted to even feed chickens...

 

[JerryMungo]

Gauteng:



They'll definitely be opening the flood gates with their attitude. Just saying.

 

[Anthro]

Time to throw REA (Reverse Engineer Anything) at the app to see what it is made of ?

 

[warwickw]

The Gauteng prvince and Evolve are bloody stupid.

Evolve you just lost my business and any future business potential, you should be commending this student and encouraging him and others to continue to hold yourselves accountable for security of user data and continue to report incidents as they did via official channels instead of targeting them with criminal action.

The province shame on you, but what is new I suppose.

 

[Adenoid Hynkel]

It's always something very dodge like "Jabu's African Free Range Chicken Enterprises TA New-Wave IT Services" - guys become leading experts in the industry overnight..

Well. According to their ARs.

2019 – R100 – Mickey Mouse
2020 – R100 – Mickey Mouse
2021 – R150 – Mickey Mouse
2022 – R100 – Mickey Mouse
2023 – R150 – Mickey Mouse
2024 – R600 – Big moola received
2025 – R100 – Mickey Mouse
2026 – R3,000 – Massive moola received

2 directors listed, and one changed just after the tender was awarded.

All of the above doesn't necessarily mean anything, but if I were a journalist, I'd definitely dig a bit deeper and see if there's any connection to someone or something.