Joburg security whistleblower responds

Gerd Naschenweng, the person who reported the City of Joburg’s security vulnerability which exposed ratepayers’ personal information, said that he has not been notified of any criminal case against him.

The City of Joburg (COJ) said on Monday that it has opened a criminal case at the Hillbrow police station against the person who “hacked into its billing system” last week.

“Criminal acts of this nature will not go unpunished and the city intends to send out a strong message that a deliberate and malicious breach of this nature will not be tolerated,” said spokesman Gabu Tugwana.

Tugwana declined to reveal the hacker’s identity, but said they were not a member of the city’s staff.

Naschenweng said that he appointed lawyers on Thursday in a pro-active manner. “My legal team have placed on record on 22 August 2013 with legal representatives of COJ that I am presented by my attorneys,” said Naschenweng.

“We are still seeking clarification from COJ if I have been charged or not. My instruction was to get clarity from COJ in this regard and the nature of charges,” he said.

Naschenweng explained that his legal team is seeking answers from COJ in a pro-active manner, but he remains unsure by when they will receive a response to properly communicate with the public.

“Although no direct allegation against my person of having ‘hacked’ COJ has been made, it has been implied by the media and COJ due to me being the person alerting the COJ of the issue,” said Naschenweng.

“I still maintain that no illegal and unauthorised activity has taken place. Should such accusations arise, we will deal with this accordingly based on evidence presented.”

More on the City of Joburg security issue

City of Joburg opens criminal case against “hacker”

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Massive security flaw exposes Joburg residents’ private info

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