The Cape Verdean state telecommunications operator, CV Telecom, adopted more than 10 measures to reinforce security after a cyber attack it suffered on Thursday and also has assistance from an international company, a company source said.
"We adopted important measures to first isolate the problem and then normalize services, but normalize them in a very safe way.“, said, at a press conference, in the city of Praia, the administrator of Cabo Verde Telecom (CVT) Francisco Almeida, indicating that the company took “dozens” of measures, which he did not specify, as some have a specialty nature and “very high” technicality.
The engineer noted that the company has a team of 12 technicians “with a lot of experience” dealing with the matter and also has assistance from an international company specializing in security issues, of which he also did not reveal either the name or nationality.
"There, where it was necessary to intervene to manage this crisis situation, the right measures were adopted“, pointed out the person responsible.
BUT: [Cape Verde] Merger of CVTelecom companies postponed
On Friday, the company said that the previous day it had been the target of a “deliberate malicious cyber attack”, which affected mobile communications across the country, and is still investigating the causes and its origin, together with the police authorities. .
Mobile top-ups for the prepaid service, mobile data, messages and authentication of the television service were some of the services affected by the invasion, and the administrator expected the systems to return to normal within the next 48 hours.
"This type of incident has its level of complexity and takes some time to fully normalize.“, said the CV Telecom engineer, saying that there is no evidence that customer data has been compromised.
In July, Cabo Verde Telecom merged the three group companies, creating a single brand, called “Alou”.
The majority of the group's capital is held by the National Institute of Social Security (INPS) at 57,9%, with the state-owned Airport and Air Security (20%), Sonangol Cabo Verde (5%), the Cape Verde State Verdiano (3,4%) and other national private shareholders (13,7%).
On November 26, 2020, the State's Private Technological Network (RTPE) was the victim of a large-scale cyberattack with data blocking and ransom demand (called 'ransownware'), which forced the temporary suspension of some public services.
At the time, the Government of Cape Verde invested more than 1,8 million euros to strengthen the security of the country's computer networks.
