Johannesburg’s Online Billing Systems down, after Hackers Demand Ransom in Bitcoin

On October 25, 2019, Bloomberg reported that Africa’s largest city Johannesburg was forced to shut down its website and online billing systems after the Shadow Hill hackers attacked their systems and demanded a ransom of $30,000 in 4 Bitcoins to be paid before October 28. 

Authorities closed down their website as a precautionary measure against further damage from the hackers. The city also went offline on other digital platforms like the call centre and the cashiers.

Hackers Threatened to Upload Stolen Information

A report by a local broadcaster, eNCA, said that the Shadow Hill Hackers put the hack’s advertisement on the city’s website before authorities shut it down. They breached the city’s network systems and gained access to unauthorized information.

 The ransom demands payments by October 28, or else they will upload the information on the internet. eNCA caught the ransom demand before the website shut down:

“If you pay on time, we will destroy all the data we have, and we will send your IT a full report about how we hacked your systems and your security holes.”

On Saturday Johannesburg city’s spokesman Nthatisi Modingoane said that some customer service centers have been restored and the rest will be back by the weekend’s end:

“The incident is being investigated by security experts who are striving to limit the impact. The investigation will take 24 hours”.

Johannesburg’s Businesses and Institutions Targeted by Hackers

The city of Johannesburg suffered yet another cyber attack on its online electricity services platform when a virus hindered customers from buying electricity tokens online. CitypowerJhb wrote on twitter:

“City has been hit by a Ransomware virus. It has encrypted all our databases, applications, and network. Currently, our ICT department is cleaning and rebuilding all impacted applications.”

 Craig Rosewarne is the Managing Director at Information and Cyber Threat Management Firm, Wolfpack Information Risk. He said that many companies are still ill-equipped to detect and fight cyber attacks as many others continue to suffer from attacks and ransom demands: 

“They exploit their systems, steal their information, and try to get them to pay to cover it up.”