Cyberattack in South Africa Causes Massive Port Slowdown
A cyberattack “crippled” the flow of goods at South African ports just days after the country’s Port of Durban resumed operations following a period of civil unrest (see 2107150007), the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said Aug. 11.…
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USDA said Transnet, South Africa’s state-owned port, rail and pipeline authority, again declared force majeure after a July 22 cyberattack forced port workers to use paper-based clearance methods to move cargo at the ports of Durban, Cape Town, Ngqura and Gqeberha. The processing time of imported cargo slowed “dramatically,” USDA said, adding that port workers were able to process about three containers per hour. While systems at the Durban port came back online July 29, other ports still worked manually, and the slowdown has had lingering effects on South African imports and exports. USDA said poultry and beef shipments have been “severely disrupted.”