Another South African company recently fell prey to online hackers who stole the data of clients.
Car-tracking company Cartrack communicated to its clients this week it was the victim of a cyber attack in the early hours of 26 August involving ransomware.
It said it immediately sprang into action to secure its systems and its platform were fully operational within hours on the same day. The Information Regulator of South Africa and all relevant authorities were also notified.
“An investigation into the source, extent and implications of the incident is underway, conducted by our technology teams, with support from cybersecurity experts,” the company pointed out.
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To make matters more worrisome Cartrack confirmed the data stolen was shared on the dark web.
“Our investigation has since confirmed that on 8 September 2026 some information accessed in the incident was published by the purported threat actors on the dark web. The incident is believed to have been carried out by the ransomware group known as “Direwolf”. Should our understanding of the threat actor’s identity change we will update you accordingly.”
Clients warned to be cautious
The information the hackers had accessed was the customer database, which includes clients’ identities, their contact details, addresses, crucial bank-account details and vehicle- and driving-related data.
“The information could potentially be used to support scammers, including phishing attempts. For example, you may receive calls, emails or SMS messages from someone pretending to represent Cartrack, your bank or another trusted organisation.
“There is also a risk of identity theft or impersonation that could arise. We therefore encourage you to be particularly cautious of unexpected communications requesting personal information, passwords, payments, other sensitive information or asking you to log into fake bank websites as to trick you into obtaining your passwords.”
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As Cartrack’s investigation continues clients have been cautioned to monitor their bank accounts for any suspicious activity. Clients were also advised to consider applying for Protective Registration with the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS). By doing this the service alerts members, including banks and credit providers, to take additional steps to verify a person’s identity before opening accounts or granting credit in their name.
Other companies that were recently targeted include Cell C and Standard Bank.
