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South Africa’s National Treasury has confirmed that it has found malware in one of its systems, as the fallout from hacker attacks on Microsoft SharePoint clients continues.
Hackers have reportedly breached hundreds of government agencies and companies around the world by exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft’s SharePoint server software.
READ | Microsoft blames Chinese state hackers for attacks; SA servers also taking hits
Among other US government departments, the agency responsible for the country’s nuclear weapons has also been breached, Bloomberg reported earlier.
The newly discovered security flaws in SharePoint allowed hackers to steal special keys that make it look like they’re trusted users, which can give them deep access to systems and data. Microsoft has released fixes, but experts say hackers might already be inside many systems, Bloomberg reported.
Microsoft has accused Chinese state-sponsored hackers for taking advantage of the flaw. Beijing has denied the claim, Reuters reported.
On Wednesday evening, Treasury said it identified malware on its Infrastructure Reporting Model website, which is its online infrastructure reporting and monitoring system.
In response, servers were isolated to assess the magnitude of the compromise.
“Considering recent media reports since Sunday regarding security incidents affecting Microsoft platforms in the US, Treasury has requested Microsoft’s assistance in identifying and addressing any potential vulnerabilities within its Information and Communication Technology environment.”
Treasury says its systems and websites continue to operate normally without any disruption. The department says it processes over 200 000 emails each day – and blocks some 5 800 security threats – including phishing attempts, malware infections, and spam attacks — directed at its systems.
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