Africa-Press. Senegal has experienced its third cyber attack on a public institution in less than six months. Following the targeting of the tax website in October and the agency responsible for issuing national identity cards in January, the public treasury has now become a victim of a cyber attack.
The Senegalese Ministry of Finance and Budget announced a minor “incident” that affected the information technology system of the public treasury, leaving the issue unresolved and resulting in a partial disruption of customs operations and the disbursement of some salary advances for Eid al-Adha.
A new group, active since February, has claimed responsibility for the attack, alleging that it breached 70 gigabytes of sensitive data. Thus, Senegal becomes the sixth country to fall victim to these hackers, who have previously targeted China and Hong Kong, among others.
According to experts, Senegal should prepare for more attacks. The stable country, which has recently become an oil producer with widespread digitization of its services, has become a primary target.
Experts indicate that this new cyber attack highlights the urgent need for Senegal to improve its preparedness and anticipation of such breaches. To achieve this, cybersecurity specialist Gerard Joseph Francisco Da Costa states, “There is a need for more government intervention, and the legislative framework must be quickly reformed.” For instance, the personal data protection law dates back to 2008, and Dakar still lacks a cybersecurity law.
