South African Cybercrime Is Advancing Fast

Cyber criminals are finding more sophisticated ways of hacking and falsifying information as improvements in technological security increase.

“Before there would be spelling mistakes; now there are good-quality falsifications, which makes it hard to tell if it is a scam. 
“The types of cyber-attacks are more sophisticated…There has been an increase in cyber-crime and the value of money taken has also increased,” said managing director Danny Myburgh, from Cyanre Digital Forensic Lab.

IT group Dimension Data said consumers doing their festive shopping online could be at risk of losing up to R70000 per incident to cyber-crime.

ThreatMetrix, which helps businesses to prevent online fraud, said there were more than 50million global cyber-attacks last year over the holiday season. Myburgh added there were increases in cyber-crime over long weekends and the festive season. 
This is mostly done by hacking and malware, where a computer is encrypted and the criminal attempts to extort money from you in order to get the encryption key. 

The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) said in a press statement that South Africa has the third highest number of cyber-crime victims worldwide, losing about R2.2bn a year to cyber-attacks. 

Kalyani Pillay, Sabric's chief executive, said criminals were very skilled at using social engineering to manipulate their victims into divulging their personal or confidential information. 

"They capitalise on the fact that not all digital banking clients are digitally literate, and exploit this vulnerability. Using technology, coupled with social engineering, criminals can gather sufficient information to impersonate victims, bypassing bank security protocols.”

One of the modus operandi used by criminals is to play on the victim's fear and send them an email that appears to be from their bank, stating that a fraudulent transaction has been made. The victim is then given the opportunity to report the fraud by clicking on a link. 

When clicking on links in these phishing emails, the victim is taken to a fraudulent website under the control of the criminal, and any information entered on this page, such as a banking profile username or password, is sent to the criminal. 

Once they have viewed your profile, and find that there is money to be accessed, they will commit fraud on your internet banking account, explained Sabric in a statement.
“Sabric is working closely with the SAPS and mobile network operators to address this scourge,” said Pillay.

Maanda Tshifularo, the head of Dialdirect Insurance, added that although vigilance was key in preventing and limiting these attacks, and cyber security was constantly evolving to address the ever-changing methods of cyber-attack, having adequate cyber insurance in place was imperative.

“The cost of what cyber criminals steal could run into tens of thousands of rand, if not more. 

“Add to that the legal fees of recovering what is yours, and you could be facing an astronomical bill," Pillay noted. 

"It's wise not only to be vigilant with your online shopping this festive season but also to have sufficient cover in place should a cyber-criminal decide to shop from your pocket.”

IOL

You Might Also Read:

In S.Africa The Cybersecurity Skills Gap Is A Chasm:

The US Is Buying Phone Hacking Tools For Ghana’s Police:

« 5G Mobile Technology Poses An Espionage Risk
10 Cyber Security Trends To Look Out For In 2019 »

Infosecurity Europe
CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Syxsense

Syxsense

Syxsense brings together endpoint management and security for greater efficiency and collaboration between IT management and security teams.

Resecurity

Resecurity

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence.

IT Governance

IT Governance

IT Governance is a leading global provider of information security solutions. Download our free guide and find out how ISO 27001 can help protect your organisation's information.

The PC Support Group

The PC Support Group

A partnership with The PC Support Group delivers improved productivity, reduced costs and protects your business through exceptional IT, telecoms and cybersecurity services.

LockLizard

LockLizard

Locklizard provides PDF DRM software that protects PDF documents from unauthorized access and misuse. Share and sell documents securely - prevent document leakage, sharing and piracy.

Verlingue

Verlingue

Verlingue (formerly ICB Group) is a leading corporate insurance broker providing Insurance, Risk Management and related advice to businesses and private clients.

Malware Patrol

Malware Patrol

Malware Patrol provides intelligent threat data that protects against cyber attacks.

MedCrypt

MedCrypt

MedCrypt are a team of medical device experts focused on bringing modern cybersecurity features to the next generation of healthcare technology.

Marvell Technology Group

Marvell Technology Group

Marvell is a semiconductor company providing solutions for storage, processing, networking, security and connectivity.

BwCIRT

BwCIRT

BwCIRT is the Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT) for Botswana and provides an official point of contact for dealing with computer security incidents.

FireCompass

FireCompass

FireCompass SAAS platform helps CISOs & Security Teams in continuous risk assessment by mapping your attack surface and knowing the “unknown unknowns”.

CloudSEK

CloudSEK

CloudSEK has set its sights on building the world’s fastest and most reliable AI technology, that identifies and resolves digital threats.

HMS Networks

HMS Networks

HMS stands for Hardware meets Software. Our technology enables industrial hardware to communicate and share information with software and systems.

Cyber Dacians

Cyber Dacians

Cyber Dacians offers Information and Cyber Security Consulting Services. We help you to test the effectiveness of your security defenses and build a secure infrastructure.

Turnkey Consulting

Turnkey Consulting

Turnkey Consulting is a leading provider of Integrated Risk Management (IRM), Identity Access Management (IAM), and Cyber and Application Security.

ARIA Cybersecurity Solutions

ARIA Cybersecurity Solutions

The ARIA ADR Automatic Detection & Response solution was designed to find, verify, and stop all types of attacks - automatically and in real time.

European Center for CyberSecurity in Aviation (ECCSA)

European Center for CyberSecurity in Aviation (ECCSA)

ECCSA is a cooperative partnership within the aviation community to better understand emerging cybersecurity risks in aviation and provide collective support in dealing with cybersecurity incidents.

StickmanCyber

StickmanCyber

At StickmanCyber we are on a mission to create a digital world that is safe for everyone - we are your trusted cybersecurity partner.

Sycope

Sycope

Sycope is focused on designing and developing highly specialised IT solutions for monitoring and improving network and application performance.

Amplix

Amplix

In the race to create value for your enterprise, Amplix is your best asset for making technology decisions and optimizing your IT infrastructure, cloud usage, and security posture.

Linx Security

Linx Security

The Linx Identity Security platform enables identity, security, and IT ops teams to finally control the whole identity lifecycle.