3 October 2023, Sandra Laurence, Tech Central
Media Monitoring Africa director William Bird said the official response to the alleged hack is deeply worrying. “Just because the agency is dealing with state secrets does not mean it can operate in secret,” he said. ”It’s outrageous! While we are still part of a constitutional democracy, we have to act like one, and there are rules and responsibilities.”
SSA
Bird said the incident represented a “major security breach” and could not just be swept under the carpet. “We’re up against countries like the US, China and Russia, which have massive budgets for cyber warfare, so we would be naïve to think we are safe.
“These things do happen – even to us as individuals – but it is important for the agency to take the public into their confidence. This is an extraordinary approach to an alleged breach of South Africa’s security and we have every right to demand to know what steps the agency intends to follow to mitigate this risk,” he said.