Hackers targeted South Africa\u2019s Department of Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation in recent attacks on Microsoft\u2019s SharePoint customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The department confirmed the attack and said it had implemented countermeasures to isolate the affected system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those measures included software patches from Microsoft, the agency said in response to Bloomberg queries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several entities in South Africa have been compromised by hackers who exploited a security vulnerability in Microsoft\u2019s SharePoint servers, according to Eye Security, the cybersecurity company that identified an early wave of attacks last week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hackers breached about 400 government agencies, corporations and other groups around the world, although the number could be a lot higher, the Dutch company said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of the victims are in the US, followed by Mauritius, Jordan, South Africa and the Netherlands, it added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft\u00a0warned earlier this month\u00a0that hackers were actively targeting customers who manage SharePoint on their own networks, as opposed to being hosted and managed on the cloud.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SharePoint is popular with South African institutions and companies which use it to store and collaborate on documents, as well as hosting the software on-premises to provide them with control of the systems and greater security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cybersecurity researcher Gregory Boddin identified the breach at the South African department, and flagged that the Premier\u2019s office in Limpopo could also have been subjected to a breach. The office did not respond to queries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft has said that attackers are specifically targeting clients running SharePoint servers from their own on-premise networks, as opposed to being hosted and managed by the tech firm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft did not immediately respond to request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere in the region, Mauritius government servers running SharePoint were also breached, according to Eye Security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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