Phones of S.Africa's state security minister, other officials, found to be cloned

Mobile phones belonging to South Africa's state security minister Ayanda Dlodlo, her deputy and several officials from the State Security Agency (SSA) were found this week to have been cloned, Dlodlo's spokesman said on Wednesday. The spokesman said the incident was being investigated by police. He said it was not who known who was behind the attack or if any sensitive information had been compromised.

"We don't have further information, all we know is that the phones were cloned," the spokesman told Reuters, adding that the cloning was discovered when individuals received texts from deputy minister Zizi Kodwa's phone that he had not sent. The incident is the latest to raise embarrassing questions for the agency over its ability to properly protect the sensitive materials it handles in the course of its work.

It follows a robbery at SSA headquarters in Pretoria earlier in February in which money and documents were stolen.

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