Zambia on alert after global cyber security attack

Zambia's telecommunication and technology regulator on Wednesday said it was on high alert and closely monitoring the sector following a global cyber attack which affected numerous computers in over 100 countries.

The global WannaCry ransomware cyber security attack infected more than 300,000 machines, which mostly run Microsoft operating systems by automatically encrypting the files and blocking the user's access.

"In light of the May 12, 2017 cyber attack which affected numerous computers in over 100 countries, demanding ransom payments in bitcoin currency, the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) would like to inform that the authority is aware of the attacks and continues to closely monitor the sector working with other government agencies to ensure maximum national security," the regulator said in a statement.

The regulator has since urged consumers of ICT services to urgently update their operating system versions of all their computer systems running Microsoft Windows OS to avoid ransomware virus attack and to immediately report to the regulator if affected. Endit