Why is South Africa vulnerable to Cyber attacks?

11 June 2015 4:49 PM

The 2015 Security Summit that was held in Johannesburg, 26-28 May, revealed that South Africa had suffered from the most cyber-attacks in Africa.

According to reports South Africa is the third worst in the world when it comes to cybercrime attacks. The attacks transpire when multiple compromised systems, usually infected with a Trojan, are used to target a single system causing the websites to be interrupted.

A study conducted last year also revealed that South Africa’s annual loss due to cybercrime is estimated at R2.65 billion.

CapeTalks John Maytham spoke to Cay-Bernhard Frank, Head of Strategic IT: AT Kearney South Africa.

South Africa is a very attractive target here, as a regional hub on the continent. A lot of banking industries, a lot of company headquarters are located in South Africa. Compared to the rest of Africa, business hub of South Africa makes it attractive for cyber-attacks, that’s more on the demand side
— Cay-Bernhard Frank

According to Frank, South Africa is less concerned about security unlike other countries. He says that Germany has one of the most sophisticated data protection legislation worldwide. South Africa has a gap in legislation compared to European countries, he says.