In South Africa, Cybersecurity Investments are Needed Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
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June 03, 2020
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Lack of cybersecurity preparedness continues to create problems and risks for companies in South Africa.
The 2020 FTI Consulting Resilience Barometer, which polled more than 2,000 respondents from large companies across all G20 countries, reported that companies in the region are suffering cyber attacks and falling victim to ransomware more than global averages (33% vs. 27% for overall attacks).
While most leaders in the region are aware of the risks - 84% surveyed believe they have cybersecurity gaps - less than half said they have made investments in that part of their business in the last 12 months. This disparity between known risk and response is concerning even during the best of times.
Recent changes in the ways we are working has presented cyber criminals with a multitude of opportunities to exploit weaknesses in systems, processes, and behaviour. In addition to simple email phishing scams, employees are expecting non-standard emails from their IT support teams, making them more susceptible to work-related phishing attempts.
Attacks via outsourced IT providers, themselves operating in unchartered waters, are also on an uptick.
In addition to increased phishing and ransomware risks, working from home presents additional IT-related threats. Most IT teams have been focused on quickly enabling employees to work remotely and ensuring continued business operations, forcing network security onto the backburner. Still, each time an employee connects to their corporate network from home, they are creating a potential access point for a threat actor to exploit.
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Published
June 03, 2020
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