cybersecurity
Winnipeg police get provincial funding to beef blockchain forensics unit
Police in Winnipeg, the capital of the Canadian province of Manitoba, will be better prepared to deal with the use of cryptocurrency in cybercrime, thanks to $100,000 Canadian Dollars (CAD) in funding provided by the provincial government. Provincial Justice Minister Kevin Goertzen on Aug. 3 said the money from the Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund will be used to put five additional members of the police service through a Cryptocurrency Tracing Certified Examiner training program, as well as to purchase specialized software to trace cybercrime activities such as CipherTrace and Blockchain Forensics. According to the Manitoba government, cybercrimes have increased by more than 370% between 2016 and 2020. Sgt. Trevor Thompson of the Winnipeg police financial crime unit said in a statement: ...
Phising Scams Surge 234% in Africa, Especially in Tech Powerhouses
Image sourced from NorthJersey.com New data from Russia-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky reveals that the prevalence of phishing and social engineering scams has increased significantly in Africa in Q2 2022 in comparison with the previous quarter. The company’s security solutions detected 10,722,886 phishing attacks in Africa in Q2, showing a 234% increase from the previous quarter. Tech powerhouses across Africa have seen the highest amount of growth in scams. Kenyan users have been influenced the most by this type of threat: there were 5,098,534 phishing attacks detected in 3 months – a growth of 438% when compared to the previous quarter. It was followed by South Africa (4,578,216 detections and a growth of 144%) and Nigeria (1,046,136 detections and a growth of 174%). In particular, ...
The worst places to keep your crypto wallet seed phrase
Under the mattress, in the seams of a piece of luggage or even rolled into a cigar, what are the worst and best ways for keeping a seed phrase safe? The key to unlocking and recovering cryptocurrency, a seed phrase, should be secured and safe. Especially now that prices are low and the crypto tourists have checked out, it might be time for a crypto security spring clean. Security starts with a seed phrase, sometimes called a recovery phrase. There’s no denying it: Bitcoin and the crypto space writ large are in the clutches of a bear market. Since Do Kwon’s Terra experiment went up in smoke, a crypto contagion has choked the most reputable of exchanges, causing many self-sovereignty advocates to chant, “not your keys, not your coins.” Indeed, hardly a day goes by that another “trusted...
Talking Public Sector Cybersecurity with Nclose – ITNA Digital Innovation Podcast EP 6
This week’s podcast is sponsored by the Public Sector Cybersecurity Summit held on the 2nd and 3rd of August 2022. This virtual event will have all the information you and your public organisation will need to prepare yourself for the next coming cyber-attack. Don’t be caught unawares – the attack is coming, and African enterprises will be prized targets – prepare yourself now before it’s too late. Register for #PubliSec2022 and learn from a host of cybersecurity experts on how to protect your organisation from the worst threat actors out there. In this episode of IT News Africa‘s Digital Innovation Podcast, Luis Monzon chats with Stephen Osler, co-founder and business development director of South African cybersecurity firm Nclose. Stephen and Luis talk about cybersecurity in the public s...
South Africa’s Cybersecurity Response Chairperson to Speak at #PubliSec2022
The Public Sector Cybersecurity Summit hosted by IT News Africa on the 2nd and 3rd of August 2022. Sign up here: https://itnewsafrica.com/event/event/public-sector-cybersecurity-summit-2022/ Irene Moetsana-Moeng, the Director at South Africa’s Public Sector Agency & the Chairperson of the country’s Cybersecurity Response Committee has been confirmed as a speaker at this year’s Public Sector Cybersecurity Summit held on 2nd and 3rd August 2022. Moetsana-Moeng is an Information Technology and Cybersecurity executive with extensive experience across the Airline, Insurance industries and Public Sector. She led the development of South Africa’s Cybercrime Bill and coordinated and managed the Global Action on Cybercrime capacity-building project sponsored by Council of Europe which led to th...
The Zero Trust Security Framework Explained: What it Means to Your Organization
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit “Cookie Settings” to provide a controlled consent.
Solana and Ethereum smart contract audits, explained
As you might expect, this depends on how complex a smart contract is. According to Hacken, this can extend to $500,000 for larger projects where there are more lines of code — not least because of the additional engineering hours it’ll take. The company argues these costs pale into comparison with the economic damage that a smart contract vulnerability can bring. Hacken cites data showing that, in 2021, 80% of the incidents affecting decentralized applications related to smart contracts — with losses hitting $6.9 billion. Breaking this down even further, and we can see that the average cost per project stands at $47 million. Somehow, $500,000 looks a lot less expensive now. Overall, 60% of its clients have been based on Ethereum so far in 2022. And here&...
5 Reasons to Attend the Public Sector Cybersecurity Summit 2022
The Public Sector Cybersecurity Summit hosted by IT News Africa on the 2nd and 3rd of August 2022. Sign up here: https://itnewsafrica.com/event/event/public-sector-cybersecurity-summit-2022/ Public Sector Cybersecurity Summit 2022 – Managing Risk and Continuity in the Public Sector. Public sector organisations are currently at more of a risk than ever before to be the target of a cyber-attack, be it aimed ransomware or social engineering like phishing – these attacks cost countries millions, if not billions, of dollars every day. Cybercriminals are only becoming more advanced, and more dangerous. In Africa, the situation is dire with top international cybersecurity education firm KnowBe4 reporting that the continent faces a growing array of cyber threats from espionage, critical infrastruc...
Cassava Wins $50-Million Investment for Africa’s Cybersecurity
The Cassava and C5 Team. African integrated tech firm, Cassava Technologies, today announced that it has secured a $50-million investment from C5 Capital (C5), a specialist venture capital firm that invests in cyber security, space, and energy security. The investment is part of a broader funding round to accelerate Cassava’s growth. The investment by C5 will contribute to the acceleration of the work that Cassava has undertaken to increase digital connectivity and inclusion on the continent. As part of the investment plan, Cassava will be the go-to-market partner in Africa for C5’s cutting-edge portfolio companies to deliver best-in-class cyber security, satellite and space technology and clean energy. C5 and Cassava already announced a joint venture through which Haven Cyber, a C5 portfo...
How Robots Can Take Up the Cybersecurity Fight
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit “Cookie Settings” to provide a controlled consent.
1 in 3 Untrained Employees Will Click on a Phishing Link – New Report
Image sourced from Kaspersky. KnowBe4, one of the world’s largest cyber-security awareness training companies and simulated phishing platform provider, has released the new 2022 Phishing by Industry Benchmarking Report to measure an organisation’s Phish-prone Percentage (PPP), which indicates how many of their employees are likely to fall for phishing or a social engineering scam. With ransomware payments averaging $580,000 in 2021 and business email compromise (BEC) losses topping $1.8 billion in 2020, a cyber attack can wreak havoc on an organisation. Yet, according to the baseline testing conducted for the report, without security training, across all industries globally, 32.4% of employees are likely to click on a suspicious link or comply with a fraudulent request. In some large categ...
Implementing Security Best Practices to Maintain Integrity at the Edge
Industry 4.0, IIoT, and smart manufacturing are all buzzwords that we’ve been talking about for years. Many of us have had visions of factory floors run by futuristic robots and drones reminiscent of SciFi movies like iRobot. Well, it seems that life is indeed starting to imitate art; a 2021 McKinsey & Company survey concluded that many global manufacturing companies were able to keep their operations running during the pandemic, thanks to Industry 4.0. Furthermore, more than half of the respondents indicated that technology played a fundamental role in staying operational. Moreover, according to recent studies, the COVID-19 pandemic has vaulted us five years forward in digital business adoption. More and more manufacturers are considering actively adopting “lights out” factories and s...
