IT Security Services

A computer virus which has hit City Power has resulted in a blackout to its internet technology system, leaving scores of Johannesburg residents unable to purchase electricity, as their kilowatts approach 0.00.

The power utility’s spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the virus had attacked its database and other software, Information Technology Security Solutions impacting on most of its applications and networks.

The virus has also prevented those who had already bought their electricity from uploading it to their meter boxes.

The City Power website is also affected by the virus.

"It may also affect our response to some outages, as the system to order and dispatch material is affected. City Power IT team has been working since early morning 01:00 to fix this problem," Mangena said.

He said they hoped to have the glitch fixed by midday on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the utility announced that it was experiencing capacity constraints due to the cold weather in Johannesburg.

Mangena said cold weather conditions could result in unplanned outages, as the electrical system experienced overloading when demand increased.

He said plans were in place to deal with unplanned outages. The key focus of the plan was to attend to those areas that experienced repeated unplanned outages on the same day or week, he said.

"We have also increased the number of technicians in areas that are prone to repeated unplanned power outages.

Information Security Services

Do you ever feel a slight pang of anxiety when you leave your house? After locking the door, do you walk away backwards, unwilling to tear your protective gaze away?

 Instead of reluctantly easing into your car, do you eventually give up, running back to your house to stand guard over your property?

Unfortunately, for those worried about security, it's impossible to be in two places at once. We can't make a trip to the grocery store and expect to know exactly what's going on in every nook and cranny of our homes. We can install locks and alarm systems (which, incidentally, have driven down the number of burglaries over the years), but nothing is failsafe.

If you want to be able to actually see what happens while you're away, security cameras may calm your nerves. Information Security Services Video surveillance allows you to monitor or record activity in and around an area for many different reasons. For example, parents might want to watch over a sleeping child and lessen the risk of a dangerous fall from the crib. But a security camera system around the house can see people who approach the front door and maybe even catch a criminal in the act of breaking in.

­There's a wide variety of security cameras available. Some are large and out in the open, and might serve simply to deter criminals from even approaching a home, while others are tiny and meant to stay hidden from view. If you're considering setting up some type of video surveillance system in or around your home, there are a lot of questions to ask yourself before getting started.