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Ransomware Hits Johannesburg Electricity Supply

posted by janrinok on Friday July 26 2019, @09:35PM   Printer-friendly
from the lights-out dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

A major electricity supplier in South Africa's largest city [(Johannesburg)] has suffered a ransomware attack, leaving some residents without power. City Power revealed on Thursday that its IT systems had been shut down.

"It has encrypted all our databases, applications and network," the company tweeted, referring to the virus.

City Power's website remains offline and residents have reported problems via social media with their electricity supplies. The ransomware attack initially affected customers' ability to buy pre-paid electricity and also hampered the firm's efforts to respond to localised blackouts.

A spokesman for City Power told the BBC that more than a quarter of a million people might have been affected.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 26 2019, @10:23PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 26 2019, @10:23PM (#871643)

    Adding insult to injury, there is this headline from Jo-burg:
        https://ewn.co.za/2019/07/25/city-power-warns-of-power-cuts-in-joburg-as-cold-weather-hits-grid [ewn.co.za]
    Power cuts due to overloaded grid in the current cold weather (but still above freezing).

    Another article from the same source, https://ewn.co.za/2019/07/25/city-power-website-hit-by-ransomware-virus [ewn.co.za]
    says that the utility website was knocked out by ransomware. Seems like the two problems are happening at the same time, but may not be directly related. This article ends with an alternate link to contact the utility, since their normal web interface is down.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @07:49AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @07:49AM (#872230)

    Yeah seriously, we're used to it. Keep in mind winter is a pretty loose term round here. Currently experiencing lows of 6 degrees C and highs of 24