Cyber attacks are on the rise worldwide – this was revealed at a webinar hosted by South African United Business Confederation in Midrand.
The panel discussion looked at cybercrime in South Africa and the world, and managing cyber-risk in businesses.
The session sought to create awareness around cybercrime and how it could impact a business, as October has been declared Cyber Security Month by the United Nations.
Speaking on behalf of the confederation’s chief executive officer George Sebulela, Jacki Mpondo-Hendricks explained that cyberattacks affected South Africa’s image as a preferred investment destination, especially in Africa.
“In July, there were reports of an attack on Transnet, a state-owned enterprise… causing a huge upset to its information technology systems,” he said.
Chief executive officer of Storm Guidance, Neil Hare-Brown, revealed that there were about 300 international cyberattack incidents a year and that this trend was a fast-growing one.
Hare-Brown added, “Every 11 seconds there is a ransom attack on a business or company. This irreparably affects many businesses as it takes up to 21 days for a business to recover from an attack. Some businesses shut doors after failing to make a comeback.”
Alistair Tempers, CEO of Ecommerce Forum Africa said at times companies experienced small attacks and they didn’t realise the threat. “Companies need strategies to enable themselves to be cyber resilient and have a budget to fight cyberattacks and create awareness.”
Director of IIntesec Systems, Carl Beck explained that cybersecurity was very important for the private sector and government to ensure the country was not exploited by cybercriminals.
Common cybercrimes mentioned by the panel included:
• Business email compromise – this is rising due to many employees working from home without company security systems.
• Money stolen in business scams has risen by 300%.
• Organised crime moving to cybercrime as criminals are aware that law enforcement doesn’t have the capacity to bring criminals committing crimes in South Africa from other countries to justice, and lack cybercrime legislation.
Solutions included:
• Companies investing in information technology
• Upskilling employees in matters
regarding cybercrime risk training.
