Ransomware Attack Leaves Johannesburg without Power

A key electricity supplier for the largest South African city, Johannesburg, experienced a massive ransomware attack which led to the shutdown of the city's computer systems on Thursday.

In a series of tweets, City Power announced that the ransomware virus encrypted all their databases, applications and networks; all of which is being reconstructed by their ICT department.

They further told that the customers may not be able to access their website and may not be able to purchase electricity units until the issue has been sorted out by their ICT department.

As the website continued to be offline, the victims resorted to social media in order to report the issues occuring with their electricity supplies.

The type of ransomware employed in the attack is still a matter of question, however, with the magnitude, the power of this cyber power attack can be gauged. Besides, restricting customers from buying pre-paid electricity, it also affected the attempts made by City Power to respond to localized blackouts.

Commenting on the matter, a spokesman for City Power said, for the people affected, "These are the people on the pre-paid system[s] and would at any given day buy electricity,"

"Those people were not able to access the system." he added.

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