Cybersecurity in South Africa
3 South African Cybersecurity Companies You Should Probably Know About
Image by Darwin Laganzon, Pixabay. Cybersecurity involves the application of technologies, processes and controls to protect systems, networks, programmes, and data from cyber-attacks. Many establishments across the world, including, schools, banks, and hospitals rely heavily on cybersecurity services to protect their data and be safe from cyber-attacks. Everyone who has a computer or access to the internet must at some point know how to protect themselves online, hence the crash course in cybersecurity in your high school, college, or university years. It is not at all inane. In 2019, a cybersecurity company, Kaspersky noted that malware attacks in South Africa had increased by 22 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the first quarter of 2018, which translates to just unde...
Understanding Diverse Security Challenges Across Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa
Sourced from IDG Connect As is often said, Africa is not a country – and according to KnowBe4’s annual What Keeps You up at Night Report, what concerns one of the economic powerhouses is not necessarily a priority for the others and it’s an eye-opener around Africa’s diverse security challenges. “It’s a known fact that African countries and organisations are being targeted more actively by cybercriminals, to the level that it’s one of the fastest-growing regions in terms of cybercrime,” says Anna Collard, SVP of Content Strategy at KnowBe4 Africa. “But when you get down to the specifics, the differences between the survey’s continental averages and its three biggest Sub-Saharan economies are quite striking.” Here’s a snapshot look at cyber threats, compliance security, security initiatives...
Top 3 African Countries Hit by Mobile Fraud
Kenya, South Africa and Cameroon are said to be the top three hot spots for mobile fraudsters – according to cybersecurity company, Evina. These African countries face suspicious mobile-based billing transactions of 51%, 30% and 10%, respectively. “Africa’s youthful population that is mostly unbanked and using some 900 million mobile money accounts is particularly hard-hit by professional cybercriminals from around the world, who together cost Africa some $4 billion every year,” says David Lotfi, CEO of Evina. Fraudsters are impacting the long-term sustainability of the digital advertising and mobile payments industries, in particular, by perpetrating thousands of mobile-based fraud attempts daily. Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) where users are billed for purchases directly on their ph...
COVID-19 Threatens Cybersecurity in South Africa
According to researchers at IBM X-Force, Sphinx, a modular malware based on leaked source code of the infamous Zeus banking trojan began resurfacing in December 2019. However, a substantial increase in volume was reported in March 2020. This was due to Sphinx’s operators taking advantage of the interest and news around government relief payments in the U.S, Canada and Australia. Across the globe fraud and cyberattacks have soared. This is of particular concern for South Africa as funds are collected to uphold the economy during lockdown and new grants are implemented to ensure the wellbeing of citizens. The local situation South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced a significant package of social and economic relief to address the fallout from the country’s COVID-19 lockdow...
