Ports Halted by Ransomware

On July 22, 2021, the container terminals at Durban, Cape Town, and Ngqura went silent. A ransomware attack had frozen the operational technology behind South Africa’s containerised trade, forcing staff back to pen and paper. Then it unraveled: refrigerated goods racing against spoilage, and a hard lesson in what happens when a cyberattack and a physical crisis collide at once.