Tag: cyber threat

Cybersecurity education, through the use of anti-phishing training programs, is vital in a world where humans remain the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain. Cybersecurity is a term on every businessperson’s mind, as the legal, financial and reputational implications of a breach are massive.

Ransomware and malware have become part and parcel of business in today’s world. Organisations need to be adequately prepared, which means that their data protection strategy must go beyond the traditional backup, restore, and disaster recovery.

The statistics make for worrying reading. According to our Data Protection Trends Report 2022, 97% of South African companies experienced an outage due to a cyberattack in the past 12 months. Of those, almost nine in 10 (86%) suffered a ransomware attack.

We have launched the Africa Cyber Security Outlook 2022 survey which unpacks the state of cybersecurity across the continent - highlighting that the cyber landscape in Africa is highly dynamic and rapidly evolving - propelled by widespread digitisation and matched by adequate investments in protecting assets and data from cyber threats.

At a time when hybrid working is normalised, many companies have taken to using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) that enables computers on the same corporate network to be linked together and accessed remotely even when employees are at home.

The pandemic has put a significant strain on all industry sectors none more so than in healthcare where there was a need to adopt more data-driven planning and decision-making at lightning speed. At a time when expanding remote care, telemedicine, and m-health initiatives have become the order of the day, the spotlight has turned to the safeguarding of sensitive information at a scale comparable to the financial services sector.

The massive surge in cybercrime, the ever-increasing number of threat vectors, and a critical skills shortage has left organisations feeling more vulnerable to cyberattacks than ever before. With exponentially more ransomware incidents being reported than there are skilled cybersecurity professionals available, progressive businesses are looking to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to close the gap.

With technology integrated into every facet of an organisation, there are massive consequences if systems go down, regardless of the size or industry sector of a business. Over the years, I have seen my share of the IT challenges companies face daily. However, these extend beyond the operational to include cybersecurity concerns as well.

As the level of cyber threats rises every year, driving awareness around protection on Global Computer Security Day and beyond is crucial. The last 12 months saw the highest level of cyber incidents ever: a 40% surge in attacks worldwide, with the frequency in South Africa far above the global average.

Cybercrime has risen exponentially since the start of the global pandemic. While no security is full proof, crafting a security posture with multiple layers, built on the basic tenets of cybersecurity is certainly a good start. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, cyber attacks have been on the increase on a global scale, inflicting financial losses across all sectors including manufacturing, banking, and energy, to name a few.