Liberty Life system falls victim to cyber attack

17 June 2018 - 00:00 By MZILIKAZI wa AFRIKA

Insurance giant Liberty Life's IT system on Saturday came under attack from unknown hackers, who reportedly obtained sensitive data about some of the insurer's top clients.
Sources with intimate knowledge of what might be an embarrassing corporate scandal claim the hackers had demanded payment of millions of rand, failing which they had threatened to start releasing some of the information in their possession to the public.
Liberty Life executives held an urgent meeting on Saturday to try to establish how far the hackers had gone into the company's system and how the breach had occurred.
"Liberty IT personnel are running around like headless chickens trying to figure out how much data was accessed, and they can't explain to their bosses how they were hacked," one source said.Another source claimed: "Liberty executives are busy engaging the hackers and are willing to pay them off, instead of getting their clients' personal information splashed all over the internet."
Liberty spokesman Sydney Mbhele on Saturday night confirmed the hacking incident.
"Liberty regrets to confirm that it has been subject to unauthorised access to its IT infrastructure. An external party claims to have seized data from us, has alerted us to potential vulnerabilities in our systems, and has requested compensation for this.
"Since becoming aware, we have taken immediate steps to secure our computer systems," Mbhele said.
Liberty was investigating the breach and would keep stakeholders informed.
"We are working hard to rectify the situation," he added.
Mbhele also confirmed that the company was communicating with the hackers, but he could not elaborate how or whether the police had been alerted.
"First of all we need to establish whether the hackers' claims are true or they are just bluffing," he told the Sunday Times.
He said Liberty would release a detailed statement on Sunday to clarify the matter...

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.