Insurance and investment group PPS has confirmed that it was hit by a cyberattack.
The company said that while its security experts confirmed the attack, no data was made vulnerable.
“An independent forensic investigation into system disruptions since 9 March 2021 currently shows no evidence that any data has been compromised.”
PPS also informed its 150 000 members over the weekend of the attack.
PPS offers insurance, investment and health-care products exclusively to graduate professionals with an honours level or higher qualification.
The company said its IT experts were focused on restoring full functionality.
“There are several alternative processes already in place as an interim measure to minimise the impact to clients. PPS regrets the delays some members are currently experiencing.”
The company added: “the security of our systems and data is our foremost priority.”
A 2020 report released by Accenture revealed that in 2019 South Africa had the third-highest number of cybercrime victims of any country, despite ranking 25th in population.
“This was due in part to the rapid increase in people using banking apps, which are often targeted by hackers. Fraud via mobile banking applications doubled in a year, contributing to the R2.2 billion in losses due to cyberattacks in South Africa,” the report said.
Last year, advocate Pansy Tlakula, who heads the Information Regulator which is tasked with monitoring compliance to the Protection of Personal Information Act said the spike in data-exposure incidents highlighted the importance of understanding cybercrime and the sophisticated fraud impersonation techniques used to access company and personal data.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE