City of Johannesburg, banks under cyber attack

guest · Oct 24, 2019

City of Joburg, banks under cyber attack
A group called the Shadow Kill Hackers demand a payment of 4.0 bitcoins by October 28
October 25, 2019
https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2019-10-25-city-of-joburg-banks-under-cyber-attack/

The City of Johannesburg reported a breach of its network on Thursday night and shut down its website and all e-services, hours after receiving a bitcoin ransom note from a group called the Shadow Kill Hackers.

The hack occurred at the same time that several banks also reported internet problems believed to be related to cyber attacks.
In a message on Twitter at posted just after 11pm the city said it had “detected a network breach which resulted in an unauthorised access to our information systems”.

“The incident is currently being investigated by City of Joburg cyber security experts, who have taken immediate and appropriate action to reinforce security measures to mitigate any potential impacts. As a result several customer facing systems – including the city’s website, e-services, billing system – have been shut down as a precaution.”
The hackers then demand the payment of 4.0 bitcoins by October 28 at 5pm failing which they will upload all the data onto the internet.
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guest · Oct 25, 2019

Bitcoin ransomware attack cripples Johannesburg’s government, bank services
October 25, 2019
https://eng.ambcrypto.com/bitcoin-ransomware-attack-cripples-johannesburgs-government-bank-services/

While Joburg isn’t the first city or town to be given such a ransomware demand, it is probably the biggest to face such a crisis. Johannesburg is South Africa’s largest city and is the largest contributor to the country’s National Economic Product.
The hack has affected not just government services, but several banks have also reported Internet-related issues over the same time period as when the government website was breached. The Standard Bank, Absa and three other banks were reported to have been affected.

However, this is not the first ransomware attack that the city has faced. 3 months ago, Johannesburg’s city power was hit by a Bitcoin ransomware attack as well, which resulted in the facility’s database being encrypted and the whole network being compromised.
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guest · Oct 27, 2019

City of Joburg slowly resumes services after cyber attack
October 26, 2019
https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/...-resumes-services-after-cyber-attack-20191026

City of Joburg systems are expected to be back online by the end of the weekend, following a cyber attack.

On Saturday, City spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane confirmed that some of the City’s customer service centres were up and running. Remaining services would be brought slowly back online, he added, saying he expected this would take place by the end of the weekend.
Modingoane confirmed that the threat was detected on a user platform and said the City was investigating whether any customer information had been breached.
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guest · Oct 27, 2019

CoJ cyber attack a reality check for businesses - expert
Customer expert specialist Brendon Klopper has warned businesses and government that cyber security shouldn’t be taken lightly
October 25, 2019
https://www.jacarandafm.com/news/news/coj-cyber-attack-reality-check-businesses-expert/

This comes after the hacking of City of Johannesburg's website.
Klopper adds that the attack on the system could have dire consequences for customers.

"In practical terms, obviously the worst that could happen is the client's information is out there, in the market, in cyberspace. We have to ask ourselves questions around data security, personal information in terms of your identity so it could be identity theft, personal information in terms of bank accounts," says Klopper.
According to a tweet from the city, customers will not be able to use the city's online services as they had to take "immediate and appropriate actions to reinforce security measures and mitigate any potential impact”.
Klopper says the digitalisation of businesses poses a risk to customers.

"As businesses become more digital, the way that we interface and engage with customers is becoming a lot more digital as well. I think we have to be exceptionally careful about how we protect the data we have within our organisation."
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ronjor · Oct 28, 2019

City of Johannesburg Refuses to Pay Ransom to Hackers

By Eduard Kovacs on October 28, 2019
The South African city of Johannesburg says it will not pay the ransom demanded by hackers who recently breached its IT systems.
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Minimalist · Oct 28, 2019

City Of Johannesburg Threatened With Ransomware Data Release

Ransomware attackers threaten to release data that is said to include passwords and finance information
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https://www.silicon.co.uk/security/cyberwar/city-of-johannesburg-threatened-299737

guest · Nov 14, 2019

Hackers are now targeting councils and governments, threatening to leak citizen data
November 11, 2019
https://theconversation.com/hackers...ments-threatening-to-leak-citizen-data-126190

In recent weeks, Johannesburg’s computer network was held for ransom by a hacker group called Shadow Kill Hackers. This was the second time in three months a ransomware attack has hit South Africa’s largest city. This time, however, hackers didn’t pose the usual threat.

Rather than denying the city access to its data, the standard blackmail in a ransomware attack, they threatened to publish it online. This style of attack, known as leakware, allows hackers to target more victims in a single attack – in this case the city’s citizens.
The latest Johannesburg attack was the second leakware attack of this type ever recorded, and a similar attack could hit Australia soon.

The city of Johannesburg decided not to pay the ransom and to restore systems on its own. Yet we don’t know whether the data has been released online or not. The attack suggests cybercriminals will continue to experiment and innovate in a bid to defeat current prevention and defence measures against leakware attacks.
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