SA prepares for data protection shake-up
With the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force next year, it is important for South African organisations to identify ways to best manage their data. Yet many companies are still worryingly under-prepared for what will be the most significant...
POPI adds a dimension to data protection
Whether one has totally embraced South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act or not – or truly understands the legal responsibilities it enforces upon businesses and organisations, there is no denying it has altered the scope of data protection,...
Security is everything in IoT
The Internet of Things (IoT) is counted among emerging technologies that promise to transform the South African market. While the opportunity for IoT is young in South Africa, its potential influence is far-reaching, writes Reshaad Sha, CEO of SqwidNet. For example,...
SA’s risk managers are missing a trick …
South Africa's risk managers - in fact, risk managers worldwide - are missing a trick in the wake of recent ransomware attacks such as wannacry, Petya and NotPetya. The trick, as elegant as it is inexpensive to implement, is escrow; more specifically active software...
Data protection essential for insurers
With cyber security in the spotlight given recent attacks, insurers need to examine the integrity and safety of the data they have on hand. Kelly Preston, data analytics manager at SilverBridge, investigates the importance of data protection for an insurance company...
What about social media and security?
Social media has skyrocketed for businesses all over the world, with many companies using it as a way of strengthening their brands and reaching out to new and existing customers, says Carey van Vlaanderen, CEO of ESET South Africa. It's clear that social media is...
Compliance does not equal security
Compliance does not equal security. Many organisations blur the distinction between compliance and security, and because the two concepts share common ground, many businesses believe that achieving compliance with industry regulations is the only measure needed to...
Boards need to manage cyber risk
South African business owners need to understand that cybersecurity is not just a technical consideration, but an enterprise-wide risk that needs to be addressed at board level. This according to Brian Browne, principal in Mazars' Cybersecurity Practice in the US, who...
Cybersecurity starts with training employees
The Petya ransomware attack that hit computers around the world recently, the second in two months, is yet another reminder that computers play key roles in most enterprises, and that it does not take much to disable those computers. Irrespective of how robust your...
Reduce your risk of identity theft
More than 15-million people are victims of identity theft annually, many of whom fall into the less tech savvy 50 and over age group. Moreover, identity theft is very hard to prevent because so much of our personal data resides outside of our control. Robert Brown,...
Digital trust: what’s it really worth?
Digital trust may appear to be a fairly meaningless buzzword, but in fact digital trust may prove to be the currency of the future, and failing to safeguard it could be a costly mistake, writes Paul Williams, country manager: southern Africa at Fortinet. Digital...
Anatomy of a ransomware attack
Ransomware is a type of malware that, as the name suggests, takes a user's data hostage and then holds it for ransom. If users do not pay the ransom, hackers threaten to delete their information. This type of malicious software is by no means a new phenomenon, writes...