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SASSA Web site remains down after hack

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 23 Jul 2019
The SASSA Web site has been down for two days.
The SASSA Web site has been down for two days.

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) says technicians are “working tirelessly” to get its Web site back up and running again.

This comes after the site was hacked and has remained down for the past two days.

Attempts to access http://www.sassa.gov.za continued to be futile today, with an error message across the screen that reads: “The requested URL could not be retrieved. The following error was encountered while trying to retrieve the URL: http://www.sassa.gov.za/.”

Commenting on measures to bring the site back up, spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi says: “We are reconfiguring the hosting infrastructure and relocating it to a new environment. The site should be up and running by Wednesday 24 July 2019 at the latest.”

The agency uses the Web site to provide the latest information about upcoming events, media advisories and statements, services and various documents.

Letsatsi indicates they are not aware of any reason why anyone would hack the SASSA Web site. “This is a defacement of the landing page and the matter has been reported to relevant law enforcement agencies for investigation.”

According to the agency, no services have been affected as a result of the hack and no ransom has been demanded.

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