iSAT Press Release Tuesday 12th October 2021
When I made the decision about two years ago to expose Internet Solutions (which ended up being absorbed into Dimension Data), I really did not know what I was getting myself into.
I thought that being in the right would overcome all obstacles. Various people warned me of course, that taking on a company as large and powerful as Dimension Data would be very difficult. The stress on me and unfortunately those nearest and dearest to me has been immense. And of course, the global pandemic has not helped.
It has indeed become the hardest thing I have ever done, by far. And my sympathy and support go out the whistle blowers out there exposing corruption and malpractice within the companies they have worked in.
I started off by taking legal advice from two different law firms and they both told me that the normal legal route would be to sue Internet Solutions for losses, but that the process would take many years. I also discovered that the financial costs would be much more than I could ever afford.
I then contacted various IT media news companies, and suggested they investigate the problem. Much to my surprise most of them did not even bother to respond to me, and none of them was interested in investigating and reporting on the issue.
It turns out of course that many of those IT media news sites survive on advertising from companies like Dimension Data. So, so much for free and unbiased news reporting.
I decided to go public and set up a Web site myself showing all the related documents from Internet Solutions. The site highlighted the issues iSAT suffered because of the catastrophic Internet Solutions Cloud Platform failure In February 2019.
One of the most important documents made available on the Web site was an email where Internet Solutions disclosed that the cloud software, OpenStack, being used for the Cloud Platform, had not been updated in many years. In fact, it had been in EOL (end of life) stage for more than four years.
That in two sentences is the core of the matter. It is, of course, not acceptable that an organisation which provides services to the public, other business, or state institutions does not maintain the infrastructure that the services run on. That applies both to hardware and software.
Unfortunately, we were forced to shut down this web site because of a gag order from Dimension Data/NTT Ltd. The judge made that decision, exactly one day after I sent Dimension Data a copy of a press release scheduled to go out two days later. That was our first contact with Dimension Data since the High Court case on 18th March 2021. The timing of that decision seemed too much of a coincidence, and I immediately sent details of that case to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks).
My goal has never been to destroy Internet Solutions or damage Dimension Data/NTT. The goal was to force these companies to conduct business in an ethical, responsible, and accountable manner.
Unfortunately, Internet Solutions now no longer exists and has been absorbed into Dimension Data. A sad end to what was once a brilliant company, created by a group of very clever and innovative individuals back in 1993.
The goal was also to resolve the issues and keep the resolution private, via a non-disclosure agreement, to protect the Dimension Data/NTT Ltd employees. Dimension Data unfortunately has tried to distract everyone by avoiding the issue of negligence and talking about the amount that ISAT is claiming from them.
Of course, the amount of money in damages is large. But it was based on the lowest of three projected income streams from iSAT’s business model. And it did not take into account the income from the future sale of iSAT which would generate increasing income for many years to come for the buyer. This was a project that we had been working on for more than 4 years. I also have more than 40 years’ experience in the IT industry and have worked on many large projects.
In the eyes of Dimension Data and NTT Ltd, the amount would hopefully be onerous. That would discourage them from being negligent and trying to cover up that negligence in the future.
In the eye of their ultimate holding company, the Japanese Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, the amount would be small. NTT employ over 300 000 staff around the world.
Systems connected to the Internet that are not maintained to industry standards are at high risk of being compromised by cyber criminals. In South Africa alone over the last several weeks, cyber criminals have gained access to Transnet and the Department of Justice.
Because of Dimension Data/NTT Ltd casual attitude to industry standard maintenance of systems, they have promoted an attitude that it is fine to be negligent and that lack of accountability is the norm, amongst IT companies particularly in South Africa.
In the previous email, I suggested that Dimension Data/NTT Ltd be blacklisted from any contracts awarded to them by SITA (State Information Technology Agency).
Surely companies that think that failure to maintain systems is acceptable should not be allowed anywhere near government systems serving the people of South Africa?
Actually, they should not be allowed any systems at all, but particularly government systems that could be infiltrated such as SARS, IEC, Home Affairs, EVDS, Eskom etc, and especially at the moment when the country is going through a phase of instability, and elections are coming up shortly.
And now finally we get to the purpose of this email. These business entities referenced below will be contacted individually.
1. Daily Maverick and Business Maverick.
Thank you very much for the interesting and well researched stories that you provide in your daily emails.
I note with interest your requests for financial aid to continue your unbiased investigative reporting. I of course fully support your work. But I have mailed your organisation several times over the last few days and not received a response?
What is the opinion of your IT specialists about Internet Solutions/Dimension Data/NTT Ltd.’s failure to maintain software systems? Is that acceptable behaviour or negligence? Can you make that opinion public please ASAP?
2. MyBroadband (Technology, telecoms, and broadband news « MyBroadband)
TechCentral (TechCentral | Technology News Leader in South Africa - TechCentral)
ITWeb (ITWeb | Business Technology News)
BusinessTech (BusinessTech)
What is your opinion about Internet Solutions/Dimension Data/NTT Ltd.’s failure to maintain software systems? Is that acceptable behaviour or negligence? Can you make that opinion public please ASAP?
3. Datacentrix (Datacentrix - Datacentrix - a leading hybrid IT system integrator and managed services provider)
Westech (IT Company in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa: WESTECH )
Business Connexion (BCX | Home)
Altron (Altron. There when it matters.)
What is your opinion about Internet Solutions/Dimension Data/NTT Ltd.’s failure to maintain software systems? Is that acceptable behaviour or negligence? Can you make that opinion public please ASAP?
Rory Pearton
CEO iSAT (Internet Services and Technologies)
Aerial photo/video service/inquiries: info@traveltonamibia.com
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