KnowBe4 Africa
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...
Is Hacking Humans Easier Than Machines?
Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa. When it comes to cybersecurity, technology is not enough. Yes, it is the foundation. But it is not enough to mitigate the growing threat of cybercrime. The reality is that, even with best-in-class security systems, firewalls, endpoint protections and zero-trust frameworks, without a robust and agile culture of security, the business is at risk. The Dark Reading 2021 Strategic Security Survey found that around 48% of security professionals believe that users breaking policy are likely to be the single biggest cause of a major breach in the future. This sentiment is echoed in a ITWeb and KnowBe4 study that examined cybersecurity culture and the impact of this on the South African organisation. “Having a robust cyber...
The State of Cyber Extortion Crime in South Africa
Sourced from Kaspersky The KnowBe4 and ITWeb Ransomware Survey took a deep look into the South African organisation, finding that ransomware and cybercrime are increasingly impacting organisations on the continent. While many companies (32%) were attacked in 2021, some multiple times (12%), 64% of organisations believe they are prepared, and 67% would not pay the ransom. According to Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa, the South African market with its growing economy and cyber dependence, is becoming increasingly tasty as a cyber extortion snack. Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa. “It is natural for cybercriminal organisations to look at emerging economies for future attacks, as they are often not as prepared as the re...
Ports in SA Have Mostly Returned to Operations Following Transnet Cyberattack
Image sourced from News24. Ports in South Africa have mostly returned to normal operations, according to the country’s government. Last week, SA’s port operations authority, Transnet, was struck by a massive ransomware attack that crippled its digital systems leaving South Africa’s key container terminal in disarray. “The return to operations is good news for the economy, as the Transnet ports and rail system are the backbone of the economy,” the ministry for public enterprises shared in a statement on Wednesday. Transnet was left with no choice but to declare force majeure following the cyberattack on 22 July 2021. Force majeure is a legal clause that wavers any liability from Transnet for not being able to provide promised services for its clients. The clause is usually reserved for “act...
33% of Companies Undergo Cyberattacks Twice a Month on Average, per Report
Sourced from International IDEA The Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2021 provided some concerning statistics and facts about the impact of cyber-crime. It is a game, and it is one that Hiscox fundamentally believes no business should leave to chance. Multiple threat vectors and variable threat actors, and, perhaps most worrying – repeated attacks on companies by cyber-crime pose a serious risk to organisations small and large alike. One-in-six of all firms attacked this year (17%) said the impact was serious enough to ‘materially threaten the solvency or viability of the company’. According to Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 AFRICA, the report underscores the immense challenge that organisations face when it comes to securing the business and the people within ...
African’s Reluctant to Leave WhatsApp Despite Increase in Cybersecurity Concerns
Africa’s mobile users are increasingly concerned about the mobile risks and the potential for digital identity theft; however, this is not stopping them from using their favourite messaging platforms and applications. This emerged in new research carried out by KnowBe4 among smartphone users in Nigeria, Mauritius, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Morocco and Botswana. The survey gauged the opinions of Africa’s mobile users on the recent decision by WhatsApp to update their terms and conditions, sharing metadata with the rest of the Facebook group of companies. The survey found that not only did the majority of the respondents across Africa intend to continue using WhatsApp; but also, that their favourite alternative to WhatsApp was Facebook Messenger. Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy &...
How to Create a Culture of Cybersecurity
Sourced from IDG Connect Security. This is a word that can make a grown CFO tremble and an entire SOC crumble. It is the word that captures a complex landscape littered with complexity, cybercriminals and technology. It defines how well an organisation adheres to a growing body of legislation – GDPR, POPIA and other data protection regulations – and how its reputation fares when a breach is revealed and information exposed. Security should be on every boardroom agenda, in ongoing employee training, and an investment into the right tools and solutions. But, perhaps most importantly, security should be an inherent part of the company’s culture because it is this factor that ultimately determines its security risk and posture. “There is a clear link between security culture and secure behavio...
How COVID-19 has Changed the Shape of African Cybersecurity
Sourced from IDG Connect The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed how people live, work and approach security. According to the 2020 KnowBe4 African Report – which collated insights from across South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritius and Botswana – found that attitudes and behaviours had shifted as a result of the pandemic, but problem pockets of risk remain that need to be addressed in order to ensure both business and individual security. “Nearly 50% of the respondents will continue to work from home; 24% indicated that they were affected by cybercrime while working from home, and only 30% believed that their governments prioritised cybersecurity in their policies,” says Anna Collard, SVP of content strategy at KnowBe4 Africa. “This year, respondents were ev...
8 Online Safety Tips for the Holiday Season
The holiday season is a bonanza for criminals who see multiple opportunities to catch unwary shoppers, particularly online. We’ve long been attracted to the convenience of online shopping, and the pandemic’s lockdowns have galvanised our enthusiasm. Global digital commerce has grown by 71%, according to Salesforce’s Global Shopping Index, and in South Africa, the Consumer Pulse survey found that 30% of people shopped online in June. Cybercriminals know this. So to prepare for the holidays, here are eight tips and tricks to look out for: 1. If it’s too good to be true: This is rule number one to avoid online scams. Criminals will try to lure you with something free, such as fake vouchers or discount offers, special offers on limited quantities of a sought-after product, or inducing you to p...
Is Africa a Goldmine of Cybersecurity Opportunities?
Sourced from IDG Connect Africa presents a wealth of opportunities for startups and innovators looking to address cybersecurity risk across the increasingly digitised continent – according to Anna Collard, SVP of Content Strategy & Evangelist for KnowBe4 Africa. Collard goes on to say that cybersecurity presents an incredible market opportunity in Africa, with the number of Internet users soaring and demand for IT security skills growing rapidly. “Security skills and services are in high demand everywhere. The number of African Internet users will double to one billion by 2022, and global cybersecurity spend will top $170.4 billion in 2022. At the same time, cybercrime is estimated to cost the global economy a total of $6 trillion by next year, and cybercriminals’ interest in Africa is...
Why Security Systems are Only as Successful as the People Who are Behind Them
In May 2020, the personal records of more than 24 million South Africans and nearly 794,000 companies were handed over to someone impersonating a client. The personal records, identity numbers and addresses of millions of people and thousands of businesses were given to this person because they had fooled the system. It’s a hard lesson in how important it is to embed security not just into the technology and the devices of a company, but into its people. According to Anna Collard, SVP of Content Strategy at KnowBe4 Africa, security is not just the responsibility of IT – it is the responsibility of every single person in an organisation. “It is critical that organisations create a culture of security in order to combat this increasingly hostile security environment,” she adds. “A successful...
It’s not just Technology that Secures an Organisation – it’s also People
The 2020 Security Culture Report collected data from more than 120,000 employees across 24 countries to find out exactly how deeply security was embedded in the company culture. Or not. South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, USA, UK, New Zealand, Norway and India were some of the countries included in the survey. The industries included Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Education, Transport, and Energy and Utilities. The overall security culture scores were measured across seven dimensions that included Attitudes, Behaviours, Cognition, Communication, Compliance, Norms and Responsibilities. These were then further analysed against country and industry sector to provide a holistic global security overview. The results? Not what you might expect. “Asia has the highest securi...
