Tag: cybercrime

As a business traveller, you carry more than just your laptop and a positive attitude. Between your tech, your corporate credit cards, and that nice watch you wear to impress clients, you could be toting around R50,000 to R200,000 in value. That's quite the tempting target for those with less-than-honest intentions.

These are times of unprecedented change and disruption. New technological innovations and geopolitical events are just two of the major catalysts of change in the landscape of risk. In times of volatility, businesses are often faced with increased risk exposure, with opportunistic cybercriminals at the ready to exploit vulnerabilities and take advantage of loopholes.

Internal controls are an essential component of any financial management system. It helps your organisation retain financial integrity, meet regulatory requirements, and compile reports essential for improving the business. These processes are especially crucial in accounts payable (AP) departments to manage financial transactions and ensure that payments are authorised, accurate and properly documented.

In today’s digital age, cybercrime is advancing at an alarming rate. As technology evolves, so do the tactics of cybercriminals. Unfortunately, your South African Revenue Service (SARS) e-filing account is not immune to these threats.

Criminals are launching targeted online attacks against high-value individuals. What can they do to stay safe? Most cyberattacks are opportunistic. Much like a mugging on a dark street, it doesn't matter who the victim is as long as the perpetrators gain something out of their crimes. However, a growing number of these attacks are designed to target specific people, such as CEOs, Directors, Board Members, CFOs, IT administrators, and wealthy individuals.

Before the internet, businesses tended to operate in smaller areas and in a very siloed manner. Today, however, there is a global online economy, and the geographical boundaries that limited business operation areas have fallen away. The ease of access to information has become critical to successful operations, and the ability to leverage data has become a point of competitive differentiation.

As social media becomes more intertwined with our daily routines, sly cybercriminals are using it to trick people with fake job offers. What are these social-media recruitment scams, and how can you spot the red flags? With over 32% of South Africans struggling to find jobs, it is no wonder that scams targeting job seekers are becoming more common.

As social engineering attacks continue to rise in sophistication and prevalence, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) has evolved to address this growing threat. PCI DSS v4.0 places a strong emphasis on social engineering awareness and prevention, going beyond generic security training to mandate specific technology and controls.

Cybercrime remains rife, despite the efforts to combat it. In a recent court case, the court reaffirmed the legal position as to who bears responsibility for payment where a third-party accesses an email system, changes the banking details, and payment is made into an incorrect account.

People with an agreeable personality have a higher chance of being manipulated by cybercriminals to share private and sensitive information. The study suggests a striking correlation between personality types and cybersecurity risk. I surveyed close to 700 people on their personality type and how likely they were to respond to different social engineering attacks - when cybercriminals trick people into giving up private information or passwords or clicking on harmful links.