City of Joburg, banks under cyber attack

The City of Johannesburg reported a breach of its network on Thursday night and shut down its website and all e-services, hours after receiving a bitcoin ransom note from a group called the Shadow Kill Hackers.

The hack occurred at the same time that several banks also reported internet problems believed to be related to cyber attacks.

In a message on Twitter posted just after 11pm the city said it had “detected a network breach which resulted in an unauthorised access to our information systems”.

Banks no longer 'like god': Are we ready for fintech 2.0?

International fintech entrepreneurs are watching the local financial technology sector closely and warn Australia may not be prepared for the new world of banking just around the corner.

Next February, Australia's "consumer data right" will be put into action when banks will be required to share customer information on a range of products including mortgages and transaction accounts.

A hacker’s paradise? 5G and cyber security

The rollout of fifth-generation mobile networks — which offer the potential for downloads speeds of up to 10 times faster than today’s — will change how we communicate, work and stream video.

However, the faster speeds are also likely to present an opportunity for hackers to target more devices and launch bigger cyber attacks, experts say.

The problem is unlikely to be the security of 5G technology itself. Despite researchers uncovering apparent flaws in 5G’s security — such as the ability for attackers to use fake mobile base stations to steal information — 5G’s stronger encryption of data and better verification of network users are widely considered to be a significant improvement on 4G.