Telkom hit in global cyber attack
Telkom’s customer platforms were affected by the recent global WannaCry ransomware attack, which impacted its customer services.
On Tuesday morning, MyBroadband was alerted to the fact that Telkom’s systems were experiencing problems.
Problems included the telco’s USSD menus and apps not working, which prevented subscribers from buying data bundles, while voice mail systems and the company’s call centre were also affected.
Telkom spokeswoman Jacqui O’Sullivan told the Sunday Times “the computer virus attack crippled some customer platforms, which were restored only on Thursday”.
According to the report, Telkom “thwarted attempts by the WannaCry hackers to freeze its systems so they could hold it to ransom”.
Global WannaCry attack
The global WannaCry attack started on 12 May, infecting tens of thousands of PCs at large institutions across the globe, including the NHS in the UK and FedEx.
The ransom demand from the attack was between $300 to $600, and the post noted that there is code to “delete files” in the ransomware.
Telkom was among many companies and organisations believed to have been targeted by the WannaCry attack in South Africa.
“IT security experts warned that further attacks were likely, and said the government and its agencies were particularly at risk due to their failure to upgrade software,” the report said.
Read: Make upgrades free or face more ransomware attacks in SA – expert
Loading ...