CAPE TOWN - Hackers say they have regained control of more than 30 websites in Mozambique, after the government said it had repelled a cyber attack on Monday.
According to the news website, club of Mozambique.com, several portals of Mozambican public and government institutions were partially inoperable on Monday, replaced by a page announcing a cyber attack.
Hacked by Yemeni hackers was the title of the page, which appeared on the hacked websites, written in English and sporting an image of a man wearing a headscarf and brandishing a machine gun.
The image appears replicated when one tries to enter different sites, local media reported.
Among the websites targeted by the hackers are the portals of the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGD), the National Roads Administration, the Southern Regional Water Administration and the National Land Transport Institute (INATTER).
According to reports, the hackers threatened to release confidential data if their ransom demands were not met.
According to the Mozambique News Agency, hackers left a message for government officials when they regained control of the websites, which read: “Hey, we are back. We warned the government that it was completely infiltrated, including 34 of its ministries. If this amount (20,000 US dollars) is not transferred in Bitcoin, classified data will leak onto the internet, including from the Defence Ministry as well as information from officials and the emails they exchanged. They have 24 hours to do it.”
IOL