The South African Department of Defence (DoD) experienced 291 incidents of cybercrime and three data breaches/ransomware attacks over the last five years, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga has revealed.
Responding to a written question from Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi, Motshekga in late 2025 said the DoD has monitoring capabilities that detect and give alerts when threats are directed towards its computer networks. Vulnerability Assessments are also conducted monthly, and Penetration Tests are conducted biannually to identify misconfigurations and unpatched systems to enhance the security posture of the DoD computer networks.
When asked what measures her department intends to take to enhance cyber security, Motshekga said the DoD is considering the implementation of a Security Operations Centre (SOC) to provide security personnel with comprehensive visibility across the entire network environment.
“This initiative will include deploying Intrusion Prevention and Detection Systems (IPS/IDS) to identify and respond to cyberattacks, as well as establishing a Threat Intelligence Platform to supply actionable information on known threats, adversary techniques, and sectors targeted by APT groups and cybercriminals. This all is dependent on the required funding allocated for cyber security.”
The DoD’s cyber security budget for 2025/26 was R29 million and R31 million in 2026/27.
In 2023 the DoD suffered a serious breach when attackers reportedly siphoned 1.6 terabytes of data from DoD systems. The hack, apparently the work of the Snatch group, extracted massive amounts of data allegedly containing military contracts, ‘internal call signs’ and personal information. In July 2023 the Snatch group claimed responsibility for the data breach and published “a proof pack” a month later. This reportedly contained Defence Material Division personnel information, including contact details.
In May, the Department of Defence issued a tender for the development, hosting and maintenance of Department of Defence websites for three years. The upgraded websites will presumably be more secure, as none of the eight sites falling under the DoD’s ambit had been upgraded to hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS), leaving visitors with a warning that the sites are not secure.
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