ZIMBABWE’S pharmaceutical warehouse and distributor of essential medicines, the National Pharmaceutical Company (NatPharm), was left counting its losses after hackers siphoned an amount to the tune of US$104,706 that was meant for a supplier.
By Kudakwashe Pembere
Natpharms’s woes unfolded when a clerk at the organisation used his personal email address to communicate corporate transactions with a supplier, exposing the system to cyber terrorists.
In the latest Report of the Auditor-General for the Financial Year Ending December 31, 2020 on State Enterprises and Parastatals, the AG, Ms Mildred Chiri said the money was diverted by hackers.
The Company lost funds amounting to US$104 760. Upon inquiry, management indicated that their information technology system was hacked and the hackers diverted funds which were meant to pay a certain supplier,” said Ms Chiri.
NatPharm told the AG that it was a case of email phishing.
“Management further advised that the email server at National Pharmaceutical Company was down at the time and a clerk had used his personal Gmail account to communicate with the supplier. They suspect that this action resulted in the hackers accessing key information and subsequently succeeding in diverting the funds. Furthermore, the use of private e-mail domains has been discouraged.
“Management should ensure that all business communication is done via the Company’s email servers and minimise use of personal email accounts.”
NatPharm has however put in place measures to secure their system and they say there is now 24/7 monitoring of the email server activity. Performance is now being assessed every day and encryption has been enforced on all accounts.
Phishing attacks, according to Cisco, a leading global Information Technologies (IT) network security experts, are the practice of sending fraudulent communications that appear to come from a reputable source.
“It is usually performed through email,” Cisco says on its website.
Medical establishments in Zimbabwe have become a preying ground for hackers. Nat Pharm is a government-owned company charged with the procurement of drugs for all state-run hospitals in Zimbabwe. The National Pharmaceutical Company is a successor to the Government Medical Stores. The Company was established through an Act of Parliament, The Government Medical Stores (Commercialisation) Act No. 13 of 2000.
