Share

Cyber attackers target MTN data centre

Johannesburg - Services at mobile network MTN’s Gallo Manor Data Centre in Johannesburg were negatively affected on Tuesday following a cyber attack.

MTN [JSE:MTN] says the data centre was hit by a series of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on Tuesday. A DDoS attack typically involves a number of compromised IT systems overflooding a server with requests in a bid to cause a "denial of service".

The attacks on the MTN data centre subsequently resulted in disruptions in connectivity services owing to what MTN says was “packet loss on some of its nodes that service the Gallo Manor Data Centre”.

MTN has not revealed what the source of the DDoS attack was, but the company says the situation is under control.

“We have now rapidly implemented mitigation measures and connectivity is fully restored. MTN has also installed new hardware and software to provide protection from future DDoS attacks,” said MTN in a statement on Wednesday.

The mobile network also apologised to customers in its statement.

Meanwhile, MTN has further said it experienced a separate interruption to services on Tuesday owing to a power outage that happened on Monday.

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
19.11
+0.3%
Rand - Pound
23.67
+0.6%
Rand - Euro
20.35
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.27
+0.2%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.2%
Platinum
943.00
-0.8%
Palladium
1,025.00
-0.4%
Gold
2,398.74
+0.8%
Silver
28.69
+1.6%
Brent-ruolie
87.11
-0.2%
Top 40
67,314
+0.2%
All Share
73,364
+0.1%
Resource 10
63,285
-0.0%
Industrial 25
98,701
+0.3%
Financial 15
15,499
+0.1%
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