Cyber-security is an ongoing battle
The 'Nigerian Prince' or '419' email scams we've all seen take advantage of the age-old premise: people can be greedy and gullible. Or to put it more positively - people are intrinsically positive about the motives of others and are not on the lookout for scammers and...
How to address critical infrastructure vulnerabilities
Almost 80% of industrial security incidents in critical infrastructure organisations are caused by unintentional internal issues such as software misconfigurations from human error and malfunctioning network protocols, according to Fortinet. Critical infrastructure...
How many cyber-heists go unreported?
Between the hours of 5am and 8am Japan time on 15 May last month, cyber attackers used compromised card details of customers from a Tier 1 bank in Africa to make transactions on a number of customer accounts. Well over 100 cyber crooks made physical cash withdrawals...
Big increase in active malware families
Check Point Software Technologies has published its latest Threat Index for May 2016, revealing that the number of active global malware families increased by 15% in May 2016. The May Threat Index presents a mixed view of Africa, with several countries making quite...
Netxactics now offers Thycotic PAM solutions
Security solution distributor, Netxactics, has announced availability of the Thycotic range of Privileged Account Management (PAM) software solutions. This is the first time the product set is available locally, and offers protection against cyber-attacks that use...
Common misconceptions around information security
Every time the headlines flood with a new story about a breach at a major organisation, the assumption is that the attackers got in due to a high level of sophistication, or through careful studying of their target looking for the weakest link in the security chain....
How SMMEs can maximise IT security
As the bulk of the South African economy is made up of SMMEs, it is important that cash-strapped IT managers take steps to ensure that their businesses are protected against malicious attacks. Steve Buck, director of Edgetec, says current market conditions are tough...
BDO cyber lab to combat crime
As of June 2015, South Africa was one of only 28 countries in the world with a cybersecurity policy in place. Although a heavily criticised policy, it shows that government recognises the dangers of cybercrime. “We are living in an age where information travels...
High profile data breaches employ phishing
To the average user, phishing emails often appear like harmless requests for information, and seem to come from trusted suppliers, and reputable sources. However, for cyber criminals, phishing is more often than not, the easiest way to get a foot in the door of their...
Samsung, Citrix extend tech partnership
Samsung in collaboration with Citrix XenMobile is to provide the highest level of application and data security for Android environments available on the market today. Citrix XenMobile is an Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) suite that provides total mobile freedom...
Combatting the ‘evil Internet of Things’
A recent survey of over 400 global IT security pros revealed that fears over the security of connected devices has risen sharply since last year, writes Peter Reid, executive head of Intervate. In all, 86% of respondents to security analysts Pwnie Express’ survey said...
Are contactless cards cloneable?
The security community has been demonstrating successful cloning of contactless transactions since at least 2012. Full cloning of cards is not possible, and current cloning methods can only rely on copying an out-of-date implementation of the contactless standard to...