Anonymous Sudan has claimed responsibility for a cyber attack on the website of a Nigerian mobile telecommunication company, MTN, on August 2, 2023. The hacker group made the announcement and provided details about the MTN cyber attack on their telegram channel.
Details about the MTN cyber attack
Screenshot of message by Anonymous Sudan (Photo: Falcon Feeds/ Twitter)
“We have attacked the MTN telecom network in Nigeria,” Anonymous Sudan wrote on Telegram. They claimed that the website was not functional after the MTN cyber attack.
The Anonymous Sudan group disrupted the website and the application of MTN, Threat Intelligence Service Falcon Feeds tweeted.
Screenshot of Anonymous Sudan’s Telegram page (Photo: Falcon Feeds/ Twitter)
“Anonymous Sudan claimed they disrupted multiple services of Nigeria’s MTN,” Falcon Feeds tweeted on August 3.
Another Telegram message by Anonymous Sudan read that the MTN cyber attack continued for six hours and counting while they made the claim.
The hackers wrote that thousands of Nigerians were complaining about the poor network allegedly due to the cyber attack on MTN.
Anonymous Sudan wrote that the following services along with others were affected due MTN cyber attack launched by them –
Internet, data calls, SMSes
Customer care panel
Recharge line system
Internal infrastructure
Bank top-up system
Balance and airtime systems
MTN app and website
They claimed the company suffered a full system outage with connection to all systems and websites across the nation being disrupted after the MTN Nigeria cyber attack.
Increasing cyber attacks, cost to companies and cyber insurance
The increasing number of cyber attacks across the globe has not just become a critical issue leading to debates, but also become an expensive area that takes up most of the company’s funding. The cost to companies is increasing at a rapid rate due to ransom payments and cybersecurity insurance.
Companies are positively looking for cyber insurance to cover for losses. However, cyber insurance policies are found to be complex, with several terms and conditions that need to be understood well.
Voicing concern over cyber insurance
Group CISO at First National Bank Nastassja van den Heever was found addressing concerns regarding cyber insurance. At the second annual ITWeb Brainstorm CISO Banquet held in partnership with MTN Business, Nastassja said, “Unfortunately, cyber insurance companies have had such badly-written policies over the last couple of years that they end up paying hundreds of millions because more organizations experience attacks and breaches.”
Cyber insurers were designed not to pay which was why they created loopholes, Nastassja added.
The CIO of MTN SA, Celia Mantshiyane who also spoke at the event urged organizations to read the terms and conditions well enough to find loopholes that could be exploited to not pay for incidents.
She said, “What I find is that organizations are quite proud to have cyber insurance and think they can sleep at night, but meeting the minimum requirements is a moving target, so you must read the terms and conditions.”
The website of MTN Nigeria was accessible at the time of writing this report. The Cyber Express emailed the company to get a statement about the claims made by Anonymous Sudan. We will update this report based on their response.
Media Disclaimer: This report is based on internal and external research obtained through various means. The information provided is for reference purposes only, and users bear full responsibility for their reliance on it. The Cyber Express assumes no liability for the accuracy or consequences of using this information.
