Reserve Bank says ‘no impact’ from attempted cyberattack

December 14, 2022 Siyabonga Mtangana

The South African Reserve Bank said there had been no impact from a reported breach of its systems four months ago.

The central bank received information from state agencies and private security service providers in August about a “possible breach” and acted in accordance with its protocols, it said in an e-mailed response to questions on Wednesday. The bank hasn’t previously issued a statement on the incident.

“There was no impact on our systems and our operations,” it said.

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana told delegates at a gathering of Eastern Cape provincial leaders late last month that the central bank was “hacked” on 12 August.

“The minister of finance, in accordance with the constitutional practice of receiving operational updates from the bank, was informed of the attempted breach of the South African Reserve Bank’s computer systems and that there was no impact on the Sarb’s systems or operations,” finance ministry spokesman Mfuneko Toyana said on Wednesday in an e-mailed response to questions.

Read: Postbank loses over R18-million in cybercrime attacks

The Bank of Zambia suffered a cyberattack in May. The breach caused minimal damage to its systems and the bank refused to pay a ransom to the group behind the hack, it said at the time. — Prinesha Naidoo, with S’thembile Cele and Monique Vanek, (c) 2022 Bloomberg LP