cybercrime in South Africa Archives

South Africa’s public sector has emerged as a prime target for cybercriminals following a spate of cyber-attacks on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and government institutions. Cybersecurity specialists at ESET Southern Africa, say more robust security measures and greater awareness among public sector workers are needed to help close the gaps in cybersecurity. One of the most significant issues in the public sector is the lack of comprehensive security management. The public sector, and municipalities in particular, remain one of the most unmanaged environments when it comes to cybersecurity. Although most entities have basic antivirus systems in place, these solutions are inadequate for the scale and complexity of their operations and often miss other critical elements which are necessar...

South Africa is experiencing a massive surge in internet crime. A shocking 78% of South African organisations were struck by a ransomware attack last year, up from 51% the previous year. And, according to INTERPOL’s 2022 Africa Cyberthreat Assessment report, South Africa leads the continent in the number of cybersecurity threats identified with 230 million threat detections in 2022 (in second place was Morocco at a mere 71 million). Othelo Vieira, Technical Product Manager Lead at Tarsus On Demand, says that, unfortunately, no one is safe. “All businesses, no matter their size, need to learn to operate from the point of ‘when I get hacked’, not ‘if I get hacked’, and set up their security and back-ups to mitigate that risk and possible resultant damage.” He says there are several reason...

Tag: cybercrime in South Africa

Securing South Africa’s public sector requires the right mindset alongside robust technology

Hacking and your business: not if, but when