The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJCD) has said that its IT systems were breached following a ransomware attack earlier this week.

The department said in a statement that the ransomware attack occurred on the evening of 6th September. How the department was attacked is unclear but it did offer a rather generic explanation about what ransomware is.

“Ransomware is often spread through phishing emails that contain malicious attachments or through drive-by downloading. Drive-by downloading occurs when a user unknowingly visits an infected website and then malware is download and installed without the user’s knowledge,” reads the statement.

Needless to say, the attack has brought all electronic services operated by the DOJCD offline. This includes issuing of letters of authority, bail services, email and the department’s website.

“The Department has activated its Business Continuity Plan and put contingency measures in place to ensure that the IT system challenges do not affect court operations around the country. Manual recording equipment will be used to ensure that court seatings continue as scheduled,” the department said.

It is also unclear as to what ransomware was used in this attack but we should learn more in the next days and weeks.

The DOJCD said that is working with state agencies to investigate the incident and solve the problem.

“So far no indication of data compromise has been detected”, the department added.

As the department rightly points out in its description of ransomware, the most common attack vector used by cybercriminals is through employees. Cybersecurity training is an incredibly valuable investment in this regard. Not only does it ease the burden placed on a business’ security team but it could potentially stop an attack in its tracks.