By Clayton Naidoo, general manager for Cisco Southern Africa
Relentless cyber criminals are becoming smarter and
more resourceful by the day. 2018 taught us many lessons and one of them is
that companies cannot afford to develop business strategies without cybersecurity
being at the heart of it. Many companies that became victims of cyber-attacks
witnessed first-hand how difficult, time-consuming and expensive it is to
recover from, if at all. Cybersecurity breaches can leave lasting damages not
only to the company’s reputation, but its clients.
Let’s look at research in South Africa for a
second. It recorded the third highest number of cybercrime victims worldwide
and lost around R2.2 billion per year, according to the SA Banking Risk
Information Centre, who released the information in June 2018. This continues to escalate so it is vital
that businesses take preventative measures on a grand scale. Protecting the data
of your clients, finances, corporate plans, and staff should be the most vital aspect
of any business strategy in the digital economy.
The important questions to ask are – What happens
if you have a great strategy to take the business forward but no cybersecurity
measures to safeguard against hackers? What would you do if your business was
hacked today? How would you recover if the personal information of your clients
were leaked?
Cisco believes that businesses need to think
critically about creating a winning approach that incorporates cybersecurity
into the business strategy. In fact, businesses cannot afford to be without it.
The cost of
cybercrime
The escalating number of cyber attacks (even on
some of the most renowned companies) over the past few years paints the picture
of ruthless cyber criminals working 24/7 to access your data through any means
necessary.
The Official Annual Cybercrime Report from
Cybersecurity Ventures stated that by 2021, cybercrime will cost $6 trillion
annually – which is more profitable than the global trade of illegal drugs.
According to the Cisco 2018 Annual
Cybersecurity Report, more than half of all attacks resulted in financial
damages of more than US$500,000, including, but not limited to, lost revenue,
customers, opportunities, and out-of-pocket costs.
Identifying cyber threats and a
cybersecurity strategy that covers the phases before, during and after attacks needs
to be adopted as normal practice because having the right technology could
potentially save your businesses.
South Africa’s step in the right direction was the
passing of the Cybercimes
Bill in Parliament, which could potentially see
businesses across South Africa creating critical units to deal with cybersecurity
threats.The Bill was passed
in Parliament in November 2018 and once enacted, cybercriminals could face jail
time of up to three years. The Bill seeks to criminalise the theft and
interference of data and malicious electronic communication. It contains strict
rules against hacking, and states that the collection and storage of
information can be used as evidence.
