Cyber criminals are targeting African economies in similar ways to their European or North American counterparts. “The numbers show that everyone is getting hit equally hard,” said Charl van der Walt, head of security research at Orange Cyberdefense, speaking on the first morning of the Summit.
While the cyberattack numbers in Africa might be slightly lower than in other parts of the world, van der Walt believes this doesn’t necessarily mean cybercriminals are actively targeting larger economies more than smaller ones. “What we’re seeing is not the bad guys saying, ‘Let’s find American companies to hack.’ Rather, they seem to throw mud at a map and see where it sticks, suggesting the targeting is less deliberate and more opportunistic.”
Everyone is a target
What van der Walt did highlight, however, is that the landscape appears to be changing. With law enforcement in many of the most targeted countries increasingly cracking down on large cybercrime syndicates, these hackers are quickly looking for alternatives. “Similarly, the market for this kind of crime is shrinking as the number of criminal groups grows,” he says. “Again, this drives criminals to start hunting for opportunities elsewhere.” So with this in mind, it’s inevitable that hackers are coming for smaller economies, like those in Africa.
Also speaking at the event, Jonas Bogoshi, CEO of ICT company BCX, noted that this trend is a big concern. According to him, 0% of appointments on large boards in South Africa have any cyber security experience, while only about 8% have some understanding of social networks and digital technologies. This is in contrast with large boards in Fortune 500 companies, where 8% have cybersecurity knowledge and 40% have digital tech expertise.
Everything is a target
As more companies embrace digital means to interact with their customers and use technology to transform business models, an increase in cyberattacks is expected, as well as an evolution in the methods and type of assets these cybercriminals are trying to steal. “When the physical world and the digital world come together, everything that we do online is under threat,” Bogoshi says, citing how a local radio station’s entire content library was accessed and encrypted in a ransomware attack.
Another phishing attack targeted the minutes of a large South African manufacturer’s board meeting due to the company’s substantial M&A activity. As hackers get smarter, they’re not only stealing data, they’re also analysing the information they steal to identify different pieces of value they can use to further extort victims. All too often, not knowing what your assets are, and thus, not putting the necessary processes and procedures in place to secure them, is opening us up to attacks, added Paul McKay, principal analyst at Forrester.
Cybercrime, Data and Information Security
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Source: News