Cybersecurity Awareness Month highlights Africa’s vulnerability
from DION HENRICK in Cape Town
CAPE TOWN – THE continent is marking Cybersecurity Awareness Month amid a massive rise in risks in recent months.
According to Check Point Research, attacks increased by 59 percent compared to last year.
The weekly average of impacted organisations in 2022 is 1 out of 21, with an organisation on the continent being attacked on average 1 896 times per week in the last six months.
Check Point Software Technologies marks Cybersecurity Awareness Month by highlighting the need for each and every individual to prioritise cybersecurity, in both their business and personal lives, in order to fend off the ever-increasing risk of cyber-attack.
A recent World Economic Forum report revealed that 95 percent of cybersecurity problems are caused by human error.
The global cyber skills shortage is worsening the crisis.
The 2021 (ISC)² Cybersecurity Workforce Study showed a shortage of three million cybersecurity professionals worldwide.
“Cybersecurity Awareness Month is an important time to not only raise awareness of cyber-safety but to drive real action among individuals,” said Pankaj Bhula, Regional Director for Africa at Check Point Software.
Bhula believes because most cyber-attacks occur because of human error, he insists it is everyone’s role, at home or work, to play a part.
“The term ‘if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem’ fits perfectly when it comes to cybersecurity and users.”
The theme this year is, “Back to Basics.”
“The basics are not just: do not click, do not respond emotively, check the URL, do not download,” said Anna Collard, Senior Vice President Content Strategy and Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa.
She said the basics are also centred around the importance of the human firewall in protecting the business and the impact of an attack on the company’s reputation and compliance.
They urged businesses to focus on the risk of personal loss and fraud and the shared responsibility of ensuring that security should be everyone’s problem and priority.
“There will always be a need to ensure that the organisation has exactly the right levels of security technology, policy and processes in place,” Collard said.
– CAJ News
