SIBANYE-Stillwater said its global IT systems had been affected by a cyber attack but that production had been unaffected.
“We are bringing the systems back bit by bit because we want to understand what has happened,” said James Wellsted, spokesman for the miner. There had been no evidence of ransomware at this point. “We don’t know who is behind this,” he added.
Sibanye-Stillwater said in a statement to the JSE that it implemented containment measures as soon as it became aware of the event in order to “safeguard data”.
“While the investigation into the incident is ongoing, there has been limited disruption to the group’s operations globally,” the company said.
“Sibanye-Stillwater takes this incident seriously and is committed to addressing the cyber-attack. Our efforts remain focused on working towards the full remediation of the effects of this attack. We are voluntarily reporting this incident to the appropriate regulators and will provide further updates as necessary,” it said.
The incident comes in the same month the group’s CEO Neal Froneman referred to a plurality of threats affecting the globe. Speaking at the London Indaba conference, he said the company was operating in an environment of multi-polarity and ‘angry people’.
He also commented on a clash of ideologies between east and west adding that Sibanye-Stillwater positioned itself as a provider of critical metals to the under-supplied West.
“We have to help level playing field as most of companies we compete against are Chinese state owned companies who talk about debt in terms of percentages,” he said. “You can’t compete in the western capital market with companies that allow percentages of debt on balance sheet.”
