Cyber crime an invisible war: KPMG
Lazarus Sauti
Advisory firm KPMG believes cyber crime is an ‘invisible war’ that should
be a top priority for businesses looking to effectively mitigate risk and
protect critical business infrastructure.
The company also said the issue of cyber criminal activity and security is
on the rise worldwide.
This means with the increased availability of broadband, a growing number
of mobile applications and smartphones, African cyberspace will become
increasingly attractive to cyber criminals unless the threat is substantially
diminished.
“With the rapid evolution of new technologies such as mobility and cloud, Africa
has the potential to become a hotspot for cyber criminal activity.
“In fact, we are starting to see this invisible cyber security war unfold
and something needs to be done to stop it,” KPMG associate director Jason
Gottschalk said.
Gottschalk added: “Cyber criminal activity globally has become a syndicated
business.
“As a result, businesses need to understand that Information Technology
security policies and procedures is not merely a ‘tick box’ to meet compliance
or regulatory standards, but it is a business imperative.”
Norton’s consumer and small business manager for South Africa, David
Ribeiro says businesses are at risks of cybercrimes because today’s
cybercriminals are using more sophisticated attacks, such as ransomware and
spear-phishing, that yield them more money per attack than ever before.
To curb cybercrimes, Prof Basie von Solms, director of the University of
Johannesburg’s Centre for Cyber Security, calls for proactive cyber
counterintelligence in both government and business spheres.
“It is clear that traditional, reactive approaches to information security
are not enough anymore, and more aggressive methods must be designed to go out
there, identify attackers and their motives,” said Solms.
Comments
Post a Comment