An independent cyber report has found that hacking and gaining unauthorised access to an organisation’s information is the second largest in South Africa than any other African country.
The independent report underwent an intensive research period throughout 2022 and was conducted by Liquid C2, a Pan-African security and cyber services entity with offices in 22 African countries.
The report revealed a number of cyber attacks on businesses in Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia collectively combined, increased by 76%.
Kenya recorded 82% of cyber threats in its businesses in the past year, followed by South Africa at 77% and Zambia at 62%.
According to the report, 66% of South African businesses said illegal access to company/client information was the biggest threat.
The report identified measures used in remote/hybrid set-ups in South African organisations that mitigate cyber threats, and found that 67% companies were using advanced endpoint protection such as firewalls and malware. Companies using two factor authentication stood at 50% and 46% were using secure VPN and remote access.
Wiston Ritson, Chief Operations Officer for C2 said, investing in solid cyber security was cheaper than fixing its breaches.
“Attackers are adapting their techniques and are getting more advanced. C-Suite continues to lack skills to properly engage with IT and quantify the threats clearly,” he said.
The top method of attack used by cyber criminals targeting companies was through email, using Phishing or Spam attacks (61%), with attacks through compromised passwords following at 48% and data breaches and attacks (44%) being the second and third most common.
Sixty-one percent of the companies included in the research said that the breaches to their operations occurred as a result of remote or hybrid working. Nearly 50% of South Africans (46%) in the survey said they still use the remote working model to conduct work.
Ignus de Villiers, Group Head for Cyber Security at C2 said: “Some of the key findings of the report is that hacking and getting unauthorised access to an organisation’s information system and assets, is the single biggest threat to South Africa and that the financial impact of a cyber security breach remains the highest for South Africa,”.
David Behr, CEO of Liquid C2 said the biggest concern emerging from the report is that companies are saying that they’ve put a lot more cyber security controls in place.
“With threats evolving faster than security systems, companies cannot afford to get complacent. The report highlights that businesses must be consistently vigilant about the ever-evolving cybercrime landscape and the methods malicious actors use to breach cyber security measures.
“As the report shows, complacency is a luxury no one can afford. This could prove a double-edged sword. The research highlights that over half of all large enterprises in the three countries were victims of a successful cyber attack,” he said.