“Black Suit” hackers hold SA’s Health Service hostage: Lives on the line

A ransomware attack on South Africa’s National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) is delaying the processing of millions of blood tests and imperiling the lives of an untold number of people. BizNews speaks to Chris Bateman, a former long-time News Editor of the South African Medical Journal - after he was contacted by the Eastern European-sounding middleman of the “Black Suit” hackers. The “middleman” made dire threats if the NHLS didn’t enter into negotiation with the hackers. Meanwhile, a 12-year-old girl is dying in Groote Schuur Hospital because her illness can’t be diagnosed without a blood test. There have been similar attacks in countries outside Russia…which leads to the suspicion that the hackers are Russian.