The long-standing convention of a risk-based approach to cyber security has served well for several decades. However, on closer reflection of this perspective, it only addresses a view from inside the organisation towards a customer, and the time has come for an alternative point of view that takes an outside-in perspective.
This is the topic that Andy Kennedy, senior solutions engineering manager for UK, Ireland and South Africa at Cloudflare, plans to discuss at the ITWeb Security Summit Johannesburg 2025, on 3 and 4 June, at the Sandton Convention Centre.
In his presentation, Kennedy will discuss why this alternative approach isn’t just about the evaluation of risk, but rather the cause of harm that becomes the focal point.
Kennedy explains: “We will use several examples to highlight and support this reasoning, including protection of humanitarian organisations, civil society and human rights defenders through Project Galileo, Flo Health and the underpinning of privacy as a foundation for their service for women across the globe. Additionally, we will detail the need to mitigate harmful AI and, lastly, sustaining operational resilience in the sub-Saharan African region against targeted attacks.”
Cloudflare on data sovereignty
Cloudflare expects African countries to harden their stance on data sovereignty requirements going forward.
“This will drive up investment in local infrastructure and cloud solutions,” says Kennedy, who adds that critical infrastructure like data centres and cloud platforms become prime targets for cyber attacks. “In this presentation, we will discuss the challenge before businesses to comply but also remain resilient and secure.”
Cloudflare’s strategy to ensure data localisation without compromising security incorporates regional control, zero trust security and secure encryption.
The company leverages its skills, experience and technology to offer full protection to cover DDOS protection, web application firewall and bot management.
Kennedy echoes the core message that Cloudflare wants to communicate to market: “Data sovereignty has become a cornerstone of cyber security strategy across Africa.”
As for compliance, the company continues to drive simplicity into this discipline and provides built-in compliance tools, logging and monitoring, as well as resilient infrastructure.
“We believe that Africa’s data sovereignty landscape offers up opportunities and challenge… businesses that are proactive in the adoption of security-first approaches will thrive,” says Kennedy.
Click here for more information and to register for Johannesburg event.
Click here for more information and to register for Cape Town event.
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