Cell C Was Hit By Ransomware Gang

The mobile operator said on Wednesday that it had been impacted by a "cybersecurity incident" that affected "parts" of its IT environment - and that some customer data had been exposed.

Cell C provided little information about the incident, except to say that its initial findings from an ongoing investigation suggested that "data related to a limited number of individuals may have been accessed by an unauthorised party".

It did not say how many customers were impacted, what data types were involved or even when the incident happened.

However, cybersecurity and telecommunications research company TFI, which has investigated the incident using available public information - including data on the dark web - determined that Cell C was likely the victim of an attack by RansomHouse. It found that about 2TB of data was 'stolen" by the attackers.

According to SentinelOne, an information security specialist, RansomHouse emerged in March 2022 and is categorised as a "multi-pronged extortion threat".