The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR) says that South Africa has experienced a marked increase in cyber security breaches in recent times.
Research by the council has revealed that cyber security incidents are now at the same scale as corruption in the country.
Head Of Information and Cyber Security at CSIR, Dr Jabu Mtsweni says billions of rands are being lost due to these incidents.
“We see a lot of data and research that tells that there’s been an increase over the past year. For example, SABRIC reports that almost about R3.3 billion is lost due to cyber crime and just on individuals; and if you look at businesses, it’s almost close to R70 billion and this is due to various things like data theft and various scams that are happening online. The stealing of personal data through various scams like on social media, let’s say on Whatsapp, we see for example now on Christmas, people will be sending phishing messages, to steal information of individuals, because if they steal it, then they can go and do other financial crimes.”
While families and friends gear up for the holidays, scammers and criminals are getting ready to pounce.
In the report below, Lopang Alamu shares information on how some of these scams operate, their impact on unsuspecting victims, and what a person can do to protect themselves.
Meanwhile, experts emphasise the importance of awareness and practical measures, such as using two-factor authentication, strong passwords, and staying informed about new scams to avoid being a victim of cyber crime scams.
Cybercrime Scams | ‘Think before you click’ – Cybercrime Investigator and Forensic Scientist at TCG Forensics, Craig Pederson, shares more:
