BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY MEDIA FOR AFRICA

SA govt websites ‘defaced’ and ‘not hacked’, say officials

SA govt websites ‘defaced’ and ‘not hacked’, say officials
Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
11 Dec 2012

Three South African government websites were ‘defaced’ by hackers and ‘not hacked’, says the State Information Technology Agency (Sita), which hosts the sites.

On Sunday morning, the department of social development’s website opened to a black page with a window containing an animated graphic saying “Website hacked by H4ksniper” and another image depicting a heart rate monitor.

Another message on the website read: “Hello South Africa , Bad News For You IM BACK ! ..You Messed Wi[t]h Us & Now You Must Suffer..From Morocco with love.”

The Presidential National Commission (PNC) and the National Population Unit’s website’s were similarly breached.

By late afternoon on Sunday, though, the PNC and social development department websites had been restored.

“Only the front-face or cosmetic parts were altered, but no government information was under threat,” acting CEO Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said in a statement.

“This information is protected by an extremely comprehensive and detailed standards set of controls comprising of best practices in information security,” Ntshavheni added.

The South African Press Association (SAPA) has reported that H4ksniper responded by e-mail on Sunday regarding the reasons for the attack.

“We all know that SA is the first supporter of the [República Árabe Saharaui Democrática] RASD and the ennemi (sic) of Morocco since a long time and we are hackers and our goal is defending our country,” H4ksniper said.

RASD, or the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), is a partially recognised state that claims sovereignty over the Western Sahara, but controls only about a fifth of the territory, which it calls the Liberated Territories or the Free Zone.

Morocco controls and administers the rest.

South Africa regards Western Sahara as a territory illegally occupied by Morocco and wants greater self-determination for its residents.

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