WATCH | Cybersecurity and resilience in an unpredictable world

The ubiquity of the internet and internet-enabled devices that touch every aspect of our modern lives have undoubtedly made things easier in some regards.

Transacting online — whether it’s making online purchases, paying bills, booking services, managing business operations or harnessing supply chains — is fast becoming second nature, particularly with the technological innovation that has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, it has also created a gap for a new breed of sophisticated criminal intent on undermining the stability of institutions, be it for financial gain or otherwise. As a result, the call to implement cybersecurity initiatives has never been greater.

The recently publicised cyberattack on Transnet’s port services in Cape Town and Durban have thrust the topic of cybersecurity squarely into the public domain. At a time when SA’s container terminals were already under significant pressure dealing with freight backlogs caused by the Covid-19 lockdown, the security breach of the parastatal’s IT systems presented a dire threat to the economy.  

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident.

The recent NTT Dimension Data 2021 Global Threat Intelligence report identifies the threats organisations have faced globally over the last year, and provides operational, tactical and strategic recommendations for managing risk.

Here are some key takeaways:

• The finance, manufacturing and healthcare industries are directly in the line of fire, with 62% of all cyberattacks happening in these sectors.
• Spyware has been replaced by miners and trojans as the most common type of malware.
• Cryptocurrency mining is responsible for 41% of malware intrusions.
• Covid-19 cybercriminal opportunism has intensified, with cybercriminal groups and nation-state actors taking advantage of Covid-19 vaccine and associated supply chains.
• The remote work environment has attracted more web and application-based attacks. In fact, more than 67% of all attacks were either web application (32%) or application- specific (35%).
• Online data privacy and protection is a key definer of our “new normal”. This places increasing obligations, restrictions or limitations on the ability to transfer personal data to other countries.

The Dimension Data FutureProof series in association with Business Day invites you to join Business Day and Financial Mail business writer Mudiwa Gavaza as he engages Prof Mervyn King (senior counsel and former Supreme Court judge) in a candid interview to share insights on cybersecurity and resilience in an increasingly unpredictable world.

Warren Small, senior vice-president, global head of security sales and innovation at NTT Ltd; Itumeleng Makgati, group executive: information security at Standard Bank ; Celia Mantshiyane; chief information security officer at Coca-Cola Beverages Africa; and Seshni Moodley; principal head finance: intelligent security at Dimension Data MEA will explore how to stay ahead of the curve to secure the next horizon of cyber resilience.

Date: September 23, 2021

Time: 10am - 11.30am

The series of FutureProof virtual sessions brings industry leaders together to share insights and practices that promote business readiness and resilience for an unpredictable future.

Watch episodes 1 and 2: