Tag: reputational damage

Impacts vary, but in many cases, ransomware disrupts businesses for significant periods or even forces them to suspend operations or close. A growing population of highly capable cyber extortionists is developing a new means to counter defences and increase the level of disruption they can inflict constantly.

Investors need to consider cyber preparedness in their investment decisions. Today, 100% of companies rely on the internet to operate, compared to the one-in-four 10 years ago, according to a study from Accenture.

All industries are governed by the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act and need to maintain certain standards for Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ). Having the right systems in place to understand risks and how to protect people against them is essential, and training forms a core component of ensuring a safe working environment.

According to our new report, ‘How businesses can minimise the cost of a data breach’, enterprises in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) that decide to voluntarily inform their stakeholders and the public about a breach, on average, are likely to lose 38% less than their peers that saw the incident leaked to the media. The same tendency has also been found to be the case in SMBs.

A recent tweet made by a director of Cricket South Africa relating to a cancelled sponsorship highlights an issue for South African boards: the risk represented by social media. Social media has become a key communications channel, but poses particular risks for organisations and especially their directors.

Businesses must release new, exciting digital experiences and products at higher velocities than ever before to remain relevant and continue to increase their share of wallet in this brave new world which we refer to as the post-digital era. This unprecedented pace of innovation has several unintended consequences, which, if not purposefully addressed, can erode trust and alienate customers.

The scale of the national COVID-19 lockdown is unprecedented in living memory. The repercussions – personal, professional, national and international – will reverberate for years to come. As entrepreneurs, we need to be making the right decisions for right now to ensure that our businesses and our people’s livelihoods do not become another casualty of the virus. 

Renewed emphasis on digitalisation as a key strategy for sustainability is placing pressure on CIOs to ensure corporate systems are resilient. One certainty that has emerged from the COVID-19 crisis is that organisations embarking on digitalisation were better prepared to respond to the crisis.

On March 12, 2020, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, alleging that the company was employing misleading sales tactics related to COVID-19 bookings and cancellations. Another D&O claim was lodged soon after against Inovio Pharmaceuticals relating to statements the company made about developing a vaccine for COVID-19.

Bank hackers, email phishing scams and identity theft are synonymous with fraud in the financial sector. According to a statement by the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), more than R 800 million were lost over the last couple of years in South Africa due to fraud.