EDS has pointed out that many banks were affected by the SQL Slammer worm that crashed systems around the world on Saturday. This follows a Standard Bank statement blaming EDS for its card processing systems crash.
The worm crashed Standard Bank`s systems for several hours on Saturday, making it impossible for shoppers to get authorisation for credit card purchases.
Standard Bank issued a statement laying the blame for the systems crash at EDS`s door. The bank, which terminated its R1 billion card processing outsourcing contract with EDS last year, said the company`s technology processing systems had been struck by the virus.
However, EDS says banks across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia were affected by the denial of service worm, which struck just after 8am South African time on Saturday. Banks were particularly badly hit, says EDS, because they were online and trading on Saturday. EDS, which manages the IT systems and processing of several large SA companies, was not spared.
One of EDS`s first clients to be affected was Standard Bank Card Division (SBCD). EDS says its team worked with SBCD to overcome the problem and that normal service was restored by Saturday afternoon.
EDS is working with SBCD to move its outsourced card processing operation back in-house.
The group says its teams worked through the night to stabilise its local networks and restored all of its South African clients` systems to normal operating mode by Sunday afternoon. No data was lost by any of the organisations it serves, says the company.
EDS claims it was the first company to alert the FBI`s Computer Emergency Response Team in the US to the existence of the SQL Slammer worm and the effect it was having. The company is working with the FBI and other international law enforcement agencies to help identify the source of the attacks.
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