The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) has made an arrest in the case involving the leaking of the class of 2024 matric results.
According to a statement, the Hawks arrested a 21-year-old suspect for the alleged sale of the 2024 matric results on the internet.
This, after local online education company Edumarks came under fire for allegedly selling the 2024 matric results to learners for R100 online, several days before the education department officially announced the results.
During a media briefing held on Monday, basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube said the State Security Agency of SA and the Hawks were investigating a possible data leak.
She vowed there will be dire consequences for those guilty of leaking the results to third-parties.
According to the Hawks, the complaint was lodged by the Department of Education (DBE) on Sunday, at the Pretoria CentralSouth African Police Service, and the case was expeditiously transferred to the Hawks for further investigation.
“On 16 January, the Hawks' Serious Economic Offences Unit of the serious commercial crime investigation, cyber crime investigation head office descended upon a house in Hillcrest, north of Johannesburg, after the search and seizure warrant was approved.
“The Hawks proceeded to the identified premises where a 21-year-old young man and his parents are residing. During the search, various electronic gadgets and an unlicensed shotgun with live ammunition were found,” notes the Hawks.
The 21-year-old suspect will be detained for the unlawful possession of a firearm and further investigation into the matric result leak will continue, it adds.
The Edumarks site has been unavailable since Monday afternoon. A Whois search of the site shows no ownership or contact information for the domain, only that Afrihost is the registrar for it. The search also shows the domain status as ‘serverHold’.
The Information Regulator said it had given the DBE until Tuesday to provide it with details and sufficient information on the data leak to allow the data subjects to take protective measures against the potential consequences of the compromise.
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