---
title: "Johannesburg City Data Held for Ransom"
canonical: "https://www.virtcloudrocks.com/space/INFOSEC/blog/852317/Johannesburg%20City%20Data%20Held%20for%20Ransom"
format: markdown
---
The computer network of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, was hit with a cyberattack last week. The files on the city’s network are not encrypted, but the hackers have threatened to dump data they stole on the Internet unless they are paid. Shortly after receiving the ransom demand, Johannesburg shut down its website, e-services, and billing system. This is the second major cyberattack Johannesburg has faced in the past several months. In what appears to be an unrelated incident, several banks in Johannesburg have been fending off distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.  
   
**Read more in:**  
**- **[**www.timeslive.co.za**](http://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-10-25-city-of-joburg-banks-under-cyber-attack/): City of Joburg, banks under cyber attack  
**- **[**www.zdnet.com**](http://www.zdnet.com/article/city-of-johannesburg-held-for-ransom-by-hacker-gang/): City of Johannesburg held for ransom by hacker gang  
**- **[**arstechnica.com**](http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/10/johannesburgs-network-shut-down-after-second-attack-in-3-months/): Johannesburg’s network shut down after second attack in 3 months  
**- **[**www.cyberscoop.com**](http://www.cyberscoop.com/johannesburg-ransomware/): South Africa’s banks, and its largest city, are grappling with separate cyber incidents  
**- **[**www.infosecurity-magazine.com**](http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/johannesburg-held-to-ransom/): Johannesburg Held to Ransom  
**- **[**www.theregister.co.uk**](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/10/28/johannesburg_ransomware_payment_demand_refused/): City of Joburg says it knows who ransom hack attacker is, refuses to pay off criminal