Liberty Group is not the first victim of a cyber ransomware attack, and it will certainly not be the last. In the past, most companies did not report such issues out of fear of reputational damage. However, since the inception of the General Data Protection Regulation (an EU tool) in May, companies such as Liberty are obliged to inform their clients of such a breach. It is almost impossible to entirely prevent it (although the basics need to be in place) and the economic effect is real: Liberty lost in excess of 4% in share value when markets reopened. A major source of concern is that SA is third on the list of countries most exposed to cyber risks. Many major companies spend a lot to protect their clients’ data, but many more, especially small businesses, municipalities and even state-owned entities and departments, either can’t afford the security, don’t know that they should acquire it, or simply don’t bother. Why then is the government not investing in developing local software...
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