Armscor: No ‘classified’ data leaked in Anonymous hack

13 July 2016

Johannesburg - State-owned arms supplier Armscor has said a cyber breach on its website has not resulted in classified or sensitive information being leaked.

Hacktivists claiming links to the Anonymous group have breached Armscor’s website, dumping hundreds of records linked to the company’s settlement and invoicing system on the dark web.

The hacktivists said they used a “simple SQL injection” to leak Armscor ordering and payment data linked to companies ranging from Airbus, Vodacom, Microsoft, Thales Group and Denel.

Armscor, which describes itself as the acquisition agency for the department of defence, said late Tuesday that it is aware of the data breach of its website.

“A team of cyber experts has been convened to conduct a forensic analysis to determine the full extent of this incident. This is to ensure that tighter measures and interventions are in place to prevent similar attempts from recurring,” said Armscor in a statement.

“While the investigation is being undertaken, Armscor can confirm at this stage that information accessed does not contain sensitive and classified content,” the company added.

Armscor’s general manager for marketing and business development, Lulu Mzili, further said that “we are aware of the increase in cyber threats, globally; hence IT infrastructure renewal is one of Armscor’s strategic focus areas”.

In the statement, Armscor further attempted to assure its stakeholders that the “matter is receiving undivided attention”.

The Armscor hack comes after Anonymous hacktivists, under the Operation Africa or ‘#OpAfrica’ banner, announced a plan earlier this year to target ‘corrupt’ African governments.

Armscor has come under the spotlight recently for issues such as a controversial tender for the lease of an intercontinental VIP Aircraft for government.

Meanwhile, a seemingly separate group of hacktivists dubbed Anonymous Africa also targeted websites belonging to public broadcaster the SABC and the controversial Gupta family last month.

But in a tweet last week, Anonymous Africa distanced itself from the #OpAfrica hackers.

This article first appeared on Fin24, see here.