SABC News’ Tshepiso Moche reports on related tech developments in South Africa and globally. In this edition, he looks at the concerning increase in cyber-crime as some employees continue to work from home.
As some employees continue working remotely even after the lifting of the lockdown, cyber-security continues to be a serious concern for both employers and employees.
Often people fall prey to cyber-attacks which result in their confidential information being compromised.
Cyber-attackers are often creative and at times are a few steps ahead of their targets.
Experts have warned that cyber-attacks will continue to rise due to more people becoming active in the digital space.
Internet users are often urged to improve their digital literacy to avoid falling victim to these attacks.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, cyber-attacks have been on the rise in the world.
In April, pharmacy retailer Dis-Chem became the latest big private corporation to fall victim to a cyber-attack.
The pharmacy retailer was hacked at the end of April.
Several government departments including the department of justice have also been hacked.
The video below discusses awareness about the impact of cyber-security in South Africa:
Hackers continue to capitalise on the remote working arrangement, as some work from home settings continue to experience flaws in systems.
One of the commonly known methods hackers use is by sending unsuspecting employees phishing emails loaded with malware.
Most major data breaches come from phishing emails.
Even though phishing is one of the oldest tricks in cyberspace, the techniques used in such messages are becoming more and more sophisticated.
According to a report by Trellix, 81% of global organizations experienced increased cyber threats with 79% experiencing downtime due to cyber incidents.
While some companies are providing a virtual private network (VPN) to their employees, others employees rely on their home WIFIs (open network) to carry out their duties.
Editor-in-Chief of the Fast Company (South Africa) magazine, Wesley Diphoko, says that even though companies are expected to make sure that their employees are not easy targets of these attacks, people should also make an effort in protecting their digital presence.
Diphoko says some of the commonly known tips to avoid being scammed include not clicking suspicious links or opening suspicious email attachments, setting good passwords, and not using the same passwords across multiple websites.
Internet use can use spam filters to block emails that can range from annoying to dangerous.
Below is the full interview with Wesley Diphoko:
