Tag: cyber security

From digital transformation through to the arrival of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), decision-makers are changing their views on how technology can benefit the organisation. But while much attention is placed on things like data analysis, the cloud, and automation, cyber security has fallen by the wayside.

In July, City Power was hit by ransomware resulting in customers unable to purchase prepaid electricity or access its website. This has again put the spotlight on cyber security and highlights how few organisations, irrespective of their size, are safe from an attack.

While moving to the cloud might be easier than overhauling on-premise systems, there are still obstacles to overcome. Many companies underestimate the costs of migration and the level of planning required.

Every organisation with a network, an online presence and holding or accessing confidential data is at risk of cyber-breach or attack. The very nature of the internet means that cyber criminals from anywhere in the world can hit any specific targets.

The world of business is changing quickly, and with trends like the gig economy, global employment and cross-border collaboration on the rise, you can imagine the scale of regulatory and legislative changes taking place. It should be obvious, then, how important having an agile, cloud-based payroll and HR management tool is.

Cyber-attacks are increasingly becoming more and more sophisticated, and the magnitude of their impact across all industries globally is at an all-time high. A number of reports in the last two years revealed that the BRICS economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) were found to be amongst the largest victims of cybercrime. According to VM Advisory*, South Africa is listed as one of the ten globally most vulnerable countries to cyberattacks.

Businesses are, for a large part, uninformed and risk averse towards securing IoT. Enterprise, industrial and commercial IoT is a sticking point for business, particularly in South Africa, where boards of directors and senior executives are not yet knowledgeable about the benefits. This causes them to be exceptionally averse to risk, but this is changing as younger and more informed ‘tech-savvy’ executives are being appointed to boards.

Businesses have never before been so accountable for the use, storing and handling of data. As highlighted by the Cambridge Analytica data misuse scandal, there is in intense focus currently on data privacy, data security and the responsibility of protecting one’s digital identity.

The cybersecurity industry's approach to protecting our data simply isn't working anymore. It was built for the past. It was about outside threats, hackers finding their way inside, building bigger and more audacious security walls to befuddle the bad guys and protect us from threats. Such an approach was created for a different time, a different, more tightly held IT environment, and a different threat landscape.

As any business grows, data sharing increases in both volume and frequency. Every one of these digital relationships presents an expanding set of cyber risks. Cyber security has become a major priority for every organisation. The right controls and procedures must be put in place to detect potential attacks and protect against them. However, with the ever increasing risk of a cyber-attack businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the rapidly evolving cyber threats?