Cape Town - Hackers did not access any confidential information when the SAPS website was compromised during a concerted cyber attack last week, say police.
A hacker performed a data dump on Friday, uploading personal details of complainants on the police’s website’s e-mail server to another page.
Almost 16 000 e-mails were exposed, including details of incidents of crimes such as rape, murder and robbery and the names and contact details of the complainants.
The police website hosts a variety of services, including an anonymous crime tip-off page where users can report criminal activity.
But national police spokesman Brigadier Phuti Setati said on Wednesday it was only the general feedback portion of the website and the list of police contacts that had been compromised.
“This is not confidential, it is available to anyone… the SAPS has made a facility available on the website where a person may log a request to be addressed by a specific station or division or merely to give a compliment. This information is usually published.”
Anonymous tips and case information were stored on a different server in another building, and there was no electronic link between the two.
“Hacking (our website) will always be a matter that the hacker community will strive to achieve, and therefore the website and the police’s corporate systems are hosted on completely different networks.
“The confidential information cannot be hacked.”
Setati said police had launched a “major investigation” into those behind the attack.
“They will be brought to justice.”
DomainerAnon, a user on Twitter who claimed credit for the attack, tweeted: “The reason for (the attack) is to serve as a reminder to the government regarding murders of 34 protesting miners outside the Marikana platinum mine by police. To date, no officers have been brought to justice… this situation will NOT be tolerated.”
Cape Argus