The South African Weather Service (SAWS) is still relying on alternative channels to render critical marine, aviation and severe weather services after a cybersecurity attack by “criminal elements” on Sunday evening.
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) is still relying on alternative channels to render critical marine, aviation and severe weather services after a cybersecurity attack by “criminal elements” on Sunday evening.
This is pending the recovery and restoration of compromised information and communications technology systems, which went down.
“Thus far, we have not had an interruption of services,” said Ishaam Abader, the chief executive of the public entity.
“Weather products for marine and aviation sectors are being conveyed via alternative channels. Daily forecasts are being sent regularly via email to media houses and to disaster management authorities.”
The attack was the second in the space of two days after a failed attempt on the evening of 25 January.
Abader said forecasts were being disseminated through social media platforms as the organisation’s website, which is the hub of critical weather information, remained down.
A team of engineers and cybersecurity experts is “working around the clock” to return operations to normal as soon as possible. So far, they have been able to restore the weather service’s email functions and phone system.
“The SAWS understands the significance of its services in so far as they relate to saving lives and property from the impact of hazardous weather,” it said. “Accordingly, the organisation does not take the cyberattack lightly.”
It added that it would keep the public abreast of developments.
In November, an opinion piece published in the Mail & Guardian warned that the increase in cyberattacks and data breaches, with more than 150 breaches reported monthly, across all sectors, was costing the country billions annually.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s national cybersecurity survey had revealed that 88% of organisations faced between one and five cyberattacks a year, with phishing and ransomware attacks the most common, resulting in data and financial losses.
The opinion piece cited how recent cyberattacks on critical national infrastructure, such as the National Health Laboratory Service and Transnet, demonstrated the vulnerability of South Africa’s institutions to cyberthreats.
The department of public works and infrastructure, it noted, had announced significant financial losses as a result of cybercrime, with estimates reaching R300 million over the past three years.