Justice Dept: Systems 'recovering' following ransomware attack
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development says it has made strides in its recovery from a ransomware attack in September.
A team of officials, industry specialists, and state advisors have been working to contain the spread of the malware.
"A number of online services have been reactivated in a safe and secure manner," says departmental spokesperson Steve Mahlangu.
"The team has also focused on ensuring that the payment of child maintenance money to beneficiaries is disrupted as little as possible.
"Another critical area that has been given high priority is the electronic recording of court proceedings to ensure that courts are able to operate as normal.
"The web portal that is used by transcribers to download court recordings for transcription purposes was also successfully restored."
Mahlangu says considerable progress has also been made in restoring the Integrated Case Management System, which is an administrative system used at all courts.
"Parts of the system are already accessible, such as curatorship, and the online portals used for historic searches," Mahlangu explains.
"More work will be done in the next few days to complete the process of bringing back online functionality in respect of trusts, deceased estates and insolvencies.
"Following the attack, the department has now strengthened security measures to protect sensitive personal information under its custodianship.
"Measures include upgrading our ICT security infrastructure and ensuring more stringent access control electronic and physical."
