As South Africa continues its rapid digital transformation, it is imperative to understand the cyber security challenges and opportunities facing the nation.
This is the main message that Dr Jabu Mtsweni, head of information and cyber security centre and chief researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), will deliver to delegates at the ITWeb Governance, Risk and Compliance 2025 Conference on 20 February at The Forum, Bryanston.
Dr Mtsweni’s presentation will focus on the CSIR national cyber security surveys that were published in October 2024, focusing on various aspects of South Africa’s national cyber security posture.
He believes that while cyber security is gaining a great deal of attention, the challenges are not fully appreciated by businesses in government and industry.
Cyber threats and attacks are continuously increasing, and skills continue to be the biggest pain points for organisations, says Dr Mtsweni.
General awareness of cyber security is lacking in many organisations. Research shows that within 32% of organisations, just over half of employees receive regular cyber security awareness training.
This presentation will cover local and international research to provide insight into the current state of cyber security.
Among the key findings from the survey and to be discussed at the ITWeb event include:
- Prevalence of cyber attacks: A significant 47% of organisations reported experiencing between one and five cyber security incidents in the past year, underscoring the persistent threat landscape.
- Data breaches: A concerning 88% of participants admitted to suffering at least one security breach, with 90% of those organisations being targeted multiple times.
- Malware and phishing: Malware and phishing attacks emerged as the most common cyber threats, with organisations reporting a high incidence of these attacks.
- Cyber security awareness: Only 32% of the respondents indicated that over half of their employees have received cyber security awareness training in the past year, indicating a serious gap in organisations’ commitment to building cyber security awareness and culture.
- Skills gap: A critical challenge identified was the cyber security skills gap, with 63% of cyber security roles partially or fully unfilled.
- Talent retention: Retaining cyber security talent is another pressing issue, with 35% of professionals citing better offers, lack of training opportunities and other factors as reasons for leaving their current positions.
- Cyber security monitoring: Only 41% of the organisations are assessing and monitoring cyber threats on a daily basis, indicating that the majority of organisations are not prepared to deal with cyber threats; according to Telecom Review Africa, South Africa experiences almost 20 million cyber security threats or attacks per month.
- Digital identity: Financial institutions (88%) were considered the most important driver of the South African digital identity market. Over two-thirds mentioned both encryption and privacy technologies (71%) and biometrics (68%) as drivers, while half reported identity theft being a serious concern that can be addressed by digital identity.
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