Cyberattacks Disrupt Johannesburg and South African Banks in Coordinated Extortion Campaign In late October 2019, a series of cyberattacks targeted critical infrastructure in South Africa, crippling municipal services and financial institutions in a coordinated extortion effort. Hackers demanded Bitcoin ransoms, exploiting vulnerabilities in both public and private sector systems. ### Ransomware Paralyzes Johannesburg’s Services On October 24, 2019, the City of Johannesburg fell victim to a ransomware attack, encrypting key systems and disrupting essential services. The attackers, who demanded 4 Bitcoin (≈ R500,000 or $37,000 USD), claimed to have backdoors into the city’s network and threatened to leak stolen data if the ransom wasn’t paid. The attack was strategically timed to coincide with month-end processes, affecting bill payments, supplier transactions, and the 112 emergency call center South Africa’s equivalent of 911. While the city refused to pay, recovery efforts were underway to restore full functionality. ### DDoS Attacks Target Major Banks Simultaneously, Standard Bank and ABSA faced distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, flooding their networks with traffic to disrupt online services. Unlike ransomware, these attacks did not breach customer data but caused transaction delays and intermittent downtime, particularly on payday, impacting salary deposits. The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) confirmed that such attacks are typically extortion-driven, with hackers demanding Bitcoin to halt the assaults. Banks responded by bolstering defenses rather than paying the ransom. ### Impact and Response The attacks highlighted the growing threat of cyber extortion, demonstrating how hackers exploit timing and critical infrastructure for maximum disruption. While Johannesburg and the banks worked to mitigate the damage, the incidents underscored the vulnerability of both public and private entities to modern cyber threats. Investigations into the attacks’ origins and methods remain ongoing.