{"id":413654,"date":"2021-09-12T08:28:17","date_gmt":"2021-09-12T06:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=413654"},"modified":"2021-09-12T08:29:38","modified_gmt":"2021-09-12T06:29:38","slug":"hackers-breach-south-africas-courts-systems-crippled-and-peoples-banking-details-compromised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/security\/413654-hackers-breach-south-africas-courts-systems-crippled-and-peoples-banking-details-compromised.html","title":{"rendered":"Hackers breach South Africa’s courts \u2014 systems crippled and people’s banking details compromised"},"content":{"rendered":"

An anonymous Gauteng lawyer has told Rapport<\/strong><\/a> that “millions of pieces of personal information” were leaked in the recent ransomware attack suffered by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.<\/p>\n

“The Master of the High Court\u2019s files contain bank details and secure access to guardian\u2019s funds\u2019 sensitive beneficiaries,” said the lawyer.<\/p>\n

This data could easily be sold on the dark web, the lawyer added.<\/p>\n

Department spokesperson Steve Mahlangu confirmed that the attack had “caused our systems to be encrypted and unavailable to employees and the public.”<\/p>\n

However, Mahlangu argued that there is “no indication that data have been compromised.”<\/p>\n

Security industry veteran Anna Collard strongly doubts Mahlangu’s statement.<\/p>\n

“Ransomware criminals encrypt your data and, if you do not pay the ransom, the next step is to release your data on the dark web or sell it to a third party,” Collard explained to City Press<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“The department\u2019s data must be in danger.”<\/p>\n

According to Rapport, the State IT Agency’s (Sita) protective barrier to the Department of Justice’s servers was affected.<\/p>\n

Sita head of communications Tlali Tlali said their network has not been invaded by the cyberattack in any way.<\/p>\n

“SITA is responsible for providing services to government departments. However, there are areas where SITA is not involved,” said Tlali.<\/p>\n

“We conducted a full investigation into the wellbeing of our environment on Tuesday and found no breaks or abnormalities on our network.”<\/p>\n

\"SITA<\/a><\/p>\n

The ransomware attack<\/strong><\/a> occurred on the evening of 6 September and caused all of the justice department’s information systems to be encrypted and rendered unavailable \u2014 both internally and to the public.<\/p>\n

This includes all electronic services provided by the department, including bail services, email, letters of authority, and bail services.<\/p>\n

\u201cChild Maintenance payments for month-end have already been processed and will therefore not be impacted by the current system outage,\u201d said the department.<\/p>\n

The attack forced courts to use manual recording equipment so that cases could continue as scheduled, and a manual process was also used to provide the families of deceased individuals with the appropriate documentation to conduct burials.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, this attack occurred almost a year after a ransomware attack<\/strong><\/a> was conducted on the systems of the Office of the Chief Justice. Ransomware gang DoppelPaymer claimed responsibility at the time.<\/p>\n

It is unclear at this point if these attacks are related.<\/p>\n

Website outages unrelated<\/h3>\n

Tlali shut down speculation that widespread government website outages<\/strong><\/a> were related to this ransomware attack.<\/p>\n

Tlali said that the website outages were due to infrastructure-related issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of our customers did not have Internet services because underground internet cables were damaged on Friday morning,\u201d explained Tlali.<\/p>\n

Websites that were affected by this issue include:<\/p>\n