Govt department apologises after hackers show ‘shocking’ porn during Covid-19 meeting

The Ministry in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities has apologised after hackers showed porn during a webinar on Covid-19 on Wednesday.

The meeting, conducted via Zoom, was panelled by Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and her deputy, Hlengiwe Mkhize, UN Women representative Anne Githuku-Shongwe and Banana Khumalo for Sonke Gender Justice, among others.

Things took a turn for the worst when people logged in to find something else being shown.

Robyn Porteous was the first to ask for a new meeting code as the one she had logged onto was “not what I anticipated it would be. To put it mildly.”

Some complained about seeing Russian teens arguing and “unfavourable” images, while others said what they saw were “shocking scenes”.

The meeting was later taken to a “more private setting” and people were sent messages with new details.

The ministry has since apologised and said it would take steps to ensure this never happened again.

“We wish to apologise for the meeting being hijacked by hackers. Yet another example of technology-assisted assault. Really shocking. We are all angry but cannot this to derail this meeting. We are taking steps to ensure this never happens again. We can only apologise and state that this is what women must put up with every day. It was a disgusting attempt to derail a very important meeting. We intend to hold more sessions in future,” it said.

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