In probably not the most ironic news of the year 2020, South Africa’s Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams’ WhatsApp account has been hacked.
The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies sent out a tweet early on Monday morning confirming that the minister’s personal WhatsApp account has been hacked. “The WhatsApp account of Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has been hacked, resulting in private and confidential information being in the hands of a third party,” the tweet reads.
Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams WhatsApp account HACKED!!!
The WhatsApp account of Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has been hacked, resulting in private and confidential information being in the hands of a third party.
— Dept of Communications & Digital Technologies (@CommsZA) October 5, 2020
What the hack is going on?
At the time of writing, we don’t know what has transpired or how the minister became aware of the hack. What we do know, however, is that it’s not especially easy to hack a WhatsApp account and someone will have gone through quite the ordeal to gain access to a government official’s personal account.
According to the tweets, the department said it has plans to pursue legal action against the perpetrators, as this is categorised as illegal activity in South Africa. “This illegal activity has been reported to relevant authorities and platform owners for action,” reads the tweet.
Although very little is known about the ‘hack’ at this point in time, it’s clear that whoever gained access to the account also gained access to sensitive information. This is why it is important to make sure your WhatsApp account is secure. This can be done in a variety of ways.