The use of technology, smartphones, and the internet is growing in South Africa. The increasing use of technology has increased cyberattack threats. Our country saw a recent spike in cyberattacks. South Africa has the 3rd highest number of cybercrime victims in the world.
We discuss several reasons for these attacks. We also explain how businesses and consumers can defend against them.
Why do South African companies need to have Cyber Insurance?
Threat actors may see South African organisations as having lower defensive barriers. More developed countries have higher defence barriers. The culprits also think they have a lower chance of incurring consequences. This is a significant reason as to why Cyberattacks are happening in South Africa
There is low investment in cybersecurity in South Africa. Threat actors are taking notice of this.
What are the threat actors?
A threat actor is a person or a group of individuals that attempt to conduct malicious activities against businesses. They can do this intentionally or unintentionally.
The scale of the problem.
Accenture reported the following worrying stats in May 2020. Out of all Cyberattacks in South Africa,
- 22% were malware attacks in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the first quarter of 2018, which translates to just under 577 attempted attacks per hour.
- 79.5 % were in Card Not Present (CNP) fraud on Credit Cards. CNP fraud is the leading contributor to average fraud losses in South Africa.
There has also been a 100 % increase in mobile banking application fraud.
We hope the above give small business owners some perspective on the severity of the problem. We also hope that you will invest in Cyber Insurance if you have not done so already.
Types of Cyber Security Threats
Cybersecurity threats can take on many forms. We give examples below:
Phishing schemes are becoming more sophisticated: Phishing attacks where carefully planned digital messages are transmitted to fool people into clicking on a link. This link can then install malware or expose sensitive data.
Employees at most companies are more aware of the dangers of email. Attackers are using artificial intelligence to their advantage. They are using this technology to craft and distribute fake messages. The who purpose is to compromise their victim’s computer system.
Cryptocurrency also affects cybersecurity in other ways. “Cryptojacking” is becoming a trend
Cryptojacking involves cybercriminals hijacking home or work computers to “mine” for cryptocurrency. Harvesting for cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, for example, requires significant amounts of computer processing power.
Hackers can make money by secretly sponging on someone else’s systems. “Cryptojacked” systems can cause bad performance issues and costly downtime for businesses. IT workers must track down and resolve issues.
We give you ways on how you can protect your office’s devices from cyberattacks:
- Put a pin code on your devices like laptop and tablets
- Use apps that are from secure sources
- Invest in IT security
- Be aware of the dangers of the internet
Protect all your devices with a password: Your password should have a combination of an uppercase letter, lowercase letters as well as numbers. These passwords should be shared with device users only. The passwords should be in your memory instead of writing it down.
Use apps that are from secure sources – Applications from unofficial sources do not undergo the verification procedure. Therefore, chances are much higher than you will encounter spyware that can attack programs on your devices.
Invest in IT Security – Cybercrimes are harmful to organisations. They can lead to substantial financial losses as well as damage in the form of loss of brand image and customer trust.
Companies can even lose customers because of cybercrime. Investing in IT security can lessen the chance of cyber-attacks from happening.
Be aware of the dangers of the internet – The intentional spread of misinformation, by bots and automated sources, causes the trust in the service to decrease. Ensure you understand the difference between truthful and bogus websites.
Companies have been turning to cyber insurance to manage cyber threats better. Having this type of insurance is becoming more of a necessity. It is becoming less of a luxury.
Please speak to one of our brokers. Rodel4U will be more than happy to discuss any questions you may have about any of the above information.
