Writen By Namirembe Mwajab
Dr. Silver Mugisha, the Managing Director National Water and Sewerage Corporation conducted a press briefing at the Corporation’s Headquarters in Nakasero. The presser was to address the system interruptions that happened on Thursday (18th/Aug/2022) at the data center at the Kampala Water- Jinja Road office. Dr Eng. Mugisha pointed out that the system disturbance limited access to internal Information Technology systems and data resources throughout the Corporation which also affected NWSC’s customer service channels.
System interruptions are compromises between computers and software to access the target computer and misuse sensitive information. There is the exploitation of vulnerability of the computer system to gain unauthorized access.
Dr. Eng. Silver Mugisha mentioned that immediate action was taken to protect data and recover systems as quickly as possible as soon as the incident happened. He remarked that the first assessment and immediate findings revealed that some of the servers had been affected by malware and couldn’t function as required. He also emphasized that the Disaster Recovery Site was engaged for business continuity for the Corporation’s systems especially relating to customer services like the billing system.
The Managing Director hinted at the fact that the Corporation has engaged independent reputable IT security experts to conduct a forensic audit to investigate and determine the scope of the incident.
He proudly expressed that all systems have been built in-house and the IT Software team is working towards restoring all the systems in a prioritized manner as well as a more robust and secure environment since critical systems have been running from the Disaster Recovery Site as the information gathering at the primary site is being completed. He assured the public that most of the systems will be back up and running within a week’s time, guaranteed customers of business continuity, and that their records and payment status with NWSC are intact.
The MD affirmed that the focus is currently on having a secure and running system within a week’s time.
NWSC remains committed to Water for All.
