You don’t have to be a tech geek to be aware of the chaos that cybercriminals are wreaking in this country. There are numerous local examples — from the recent spate of WhatsApp scams to the R42m stolen from the Postbank in 2012. It’s a plague that costs this country over R1bn/year. Fortunately, our politicians are aware of the problem. But unfortunately, their response just doesn’t cut the mustard.Government plans a new law relating to this issue, and intends to submit the Cyber Crimes & Related Matters Bill to parliament by June this year for a vote. However, my organisation, the SA Institute of Race Relations, isn’t convinced this legislation is the panacea for the problem. There are already a number of technology-related laws that address cybercrime.The problem is that the existing rules just aren’t being enforced properly. In other words, it’s not that we don’t have the tools – it’s that we aren’t using them.But we have experienced some recent successes. The people who hacked t...
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