Hackers hack Johannesburg information systems and demand ransom in BTC

Hackers hacked the site of Johannesburg, the largest city in the Republic of South Africa and the capital of the province of Gauteng, and demanded a ransom in bitcoins from the authorities.

City administration announced
about hacking in his official Twitter account. Authorities wrote that “an intrusion into the network was discovered that led to unauthorized access to information systems.”

Hacking affected several client systems, including help desks. Due to the intervention of hackers, some operations to provide public services to the public were suspended. Johannesburg city cybersecurity experts launched an investigation into the incident.

After the attack, cybercriminals calling themselves Shadow Kill Hackers demanded a ransom of 4 BTC, as reported
local edition of eNCA. Otherwise, hackers threatened to upload all the compromised data to the Internet until October 28:

“If you pay on time, we will destroy all the data we have and send your IT specialist a full report on how we hacked your systems and reveal the weaknesses in the security system.”

This is not the first time that hackers have cracked the information systems of large cities, as their security level is often far from ideal. Earlier this month, online operations in the Spanish city of Jerez de la Frontera were suspended
as a result of an attack by hackers who demanded a ransom in bitcoins for unlocking computer systems in the city.

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In June, the authorities of the American city of Lake City paid ransomware in the amount of 42 BTC, and a little earlier the administration of the city of Riviera Beach paid a ransom in the amount of 65 BTC to unknown hackers who managed to take control of the computer system of the city.