The State Information Technology Agency (Sita) has denied claims that its technology systems had been breached.According to claims circulated on various social media and technology forums in recent days, Sita and government’s ICT infrastructure had been subjected to a cyberattack or unauthorised access.The agency, set up to co-ordinate government IT resources, said it had conducted “a thorough assessment of its ICT environment” which found no threats.“We can confirm that our ICT infrastructure remains fully intact and has not been compromised. There is no evidence of any unauthorised access to government data or systems, nor has any breach of security occurred through unlawful methods,” said Tlali Tlali, head of corporate affairs at Sita.According to a 2025 Check Point Software Technologies report, SA businesses, particularly those in the corporate sector, are each facing more than 1,800 cyberattacks per week. In its study, Check Point included four African countries – South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Angola.Of these, South Africa saw 1,863 attacks per organisation per week. Sectors hardest hit were government, financial services and consumer goods and services. Sita said its security teams operate on a continuous, 24/7 basis and are equipped with monitoring and threat-detection capabilities. “We run a multi-tiered scan of our security environment, and we are satisfied that there are grounds to refute these claims. All systems have been tested and verified as fully operational, and no anomalies indicative of a cyberattack have been identified.” One site downThe agency did acknowledge that one government department website is currently unavailable. “We wish to clarify that the downtime of a website of that department is the direct result of a scheduled and planned maintenance window, which includes system upgrades and enhancements intended to improve the performance, resilience, and security of the department’s online presence,” said Tlali.The affected department “is fully aware” of the maintenance activity and has provided its consent for the work to be carried out during this period. The agency said this was “a routine operational task and bears no relation whatsoever to the claims of a cyberattack or any form of systems compromise.”Sita has labelled the claims circulating online as misinformation, saying such rumours posed a risk “not only to public confidence but also to the integrity of national digital infrastructure.”For now, the agency has advised the public and “all parties” to rely on official communications from Sita and the relevant government departments. Fearing reputational damage, organisations in SA have over the years been unwilling to disclose how much has been lost through cyber breaches or to admit when they do take place.