Share

Gupta-owned Oakbay responds to hacker attacks

accreditation

Johannesburg - Oakbay Investments, whose dominant shareholders include the Gupta brothers, has acknowledged that hackers have targeted its websites.

Hacktivist group Anonymous Africa said via Twitter on Wednesday that it had targeted taking down several websites of companies falling under the Oakbay Investments umbrella.

READ: Hack attack threat for Gupta websites, Oakbay and Sahara down

Just after 14:00 on Wednesday, websites belonging to IT company Sahara, broadcaster ANN7, newspaper The New Age as well as Oakbay Investments and Oakbay Resources and Energy went on the blink.

By Wednesday evening, some of these sites such as ANN7 and The New Age were operational again, but others like Sahara and the Oakbay websites were still down.

“Oakbay is aware of attempts to hack into its websites and has taken preventative measures, in collaboration with its IT consultants,” Oakbay told Fin24 in an emailed statement.

“Whilst some of the company’s websites are running slightly slower than normal, the matter is under control,” added the company.

The downtime of the Oakbay websites comes amid the Gupta family being under the spotlight in South Africa for their close links to President Jacob Zuma and allegations of ‘state capture’.

Earlier on Wednesday, Anonymous tweeted that it was “going to send a message to the Guptas”.

Alleged cyber attacks on the Gupta-owned Oakbay come just days after public broadcaster the SABC acknowledged to Fin24 that its websites suffered disruptions from hackers on Sunday.

Anonymous Africa claimed responsibility for the SABC websites’ downtime with the hacktivist group saying it carried out the attack because of creeping censorship at the broadcaster.

On Tuesday, Anonymous Africa further claimed responsibility for downing the website of political party the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). Anonymous Africa said it targeted the EFF for the party’s alleged “racism”.

The group said this week that it has also launched attacks on a website belonging to Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party.

The attacks that the group has carried out this week have typically taken the form of ‘Distributed Denial of Service’ (DDoS) methods.

These types of attacks tap compromised computers on networks to launch thousands of requests at website’s web servers, which typically results in service disruptions for those targeted sites.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.94
-0.0%
Rand - Pound
23.91
-0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.42
+0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.33
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.0%
Platinum
908.05
+1.2%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent-ruolie
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders