The hacking of the government data network on Thursday last week is a matter of grave concern that should be treated with the urgency and seriousness it deserves.
This is moreso because this is not that first time that this has happened in recent years. Such mishaps do not just expose the state’s financial operations but also its security and that of its citizens.
We are deeply worried that a week after the government server was attacked, the responsible authorities have not yet managed to restore the network. It surely cannot be businesses as usual while the country continues to be on the edge.
Many will recall that some months ago the minister of local government, home affairs and police, Lebona Lephema, warned that the country’s security was at risk. This was after an Islamic mosque was built overlooking important government buildings including the State House in Maseru. The National State Security came out to revealed that it had warned against the erection of the mosque for security reasons.
Lephema’ s concern can only gain traction when the government information system is easily hacked like this and it takes authorities more than a week to bring it back to life.
While the ministry of communications, science, technology and innovation should be lauded for rushing to shut down the crucial Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) which was mostly affected by the virus in a bid to prevent it from spreading further, we insist that the government should not have allowed such an attack to occur in the first place.
Given that this is not the first time it has happened, we have every reason to be worried, very worried.
We expected the responsible authorities to have come up with concrete and effective measures to ensure that the government data network is not hacked again but they this happened. We implore the government to wake up from its slumber and do something as soon as yesterday. This situation should not be allowed to continue any day further.
