By Dan Chokoe
Look, I’ve covered a lot of tech disasters in my time, but this one at Wits University? This is the kind of nightmare that keeps CIOs awake at 3am, clutching their phones and praying to the IT gods.
So here’s what went down: Some cyber criminals just pulled off what we in the business call a “zero-day attack” on Wits’ Oracle E-Business system. For those of you who don’t speak geek, let me break it down – imagine someone finding a secret door in your house that even you didn’t know existed, and then using it to ransack the place before you even knew what hit you. That’s essentially what happened here.
The university dropped this bombshell on us Friday, admitting their system got compromised across multiple countries. Yeah, you read that right – MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. This isn’t just some amateur hour hack; this is the real deal.
Now, Wits is trying to keep calm and carry on, claiming “operations continue as normal.” Right. Because nothing says “normal” like your entire E-Business infrastructure getting digitally mugged. Their CIO is apparently burning the midnight oil with Oracle and cybersecurity experts, trying to figure out exactly how deep this rabbit hole goes.
They’ve slapped on Oracle’s latest patches – basically the digital equivalent of closing the barn door after the horses have bolted – and dutifully notified the Information Regulator. Standard damage control protocol.
But here’s the kicker that should make everyone’s blood run cold: recovering from data breaches in South Africa now costs an average of R53-million. That’s up R4-million from last year alone. We’re not talking pocket change here, folks.
The university says they’re “doing all they can to assess potential risk to members of its community.” Translation? They’re scrambling to figure out whose data got snatched and how bad the damage really is.
This is Dan Chokoe signing off, reminding you to update your passwords and maybe say a prayer for Wits’ IT department. They’re going to need it.