With many South Africans working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cyber security has never been more important, as bad actors are taking advantage of the situation to attack users and devices outside the corporate network.

In fact, countries around the globe and in SA have seen a steep increase in cyber crimes largely attributable to the disruption caused by the pandemic, as well as people’s desire for information about it, says Angela Mace, CRM and Events director at ITWeb.

“A recent report by Mimecast revealed that the volume of cyber crime attacks increased by a staggering 33% from January to March this year,” she adds.

However, Mace says a virtual meeting was held recently between the Select Committee on Security and Justice in the National Council of Provinces, which has now adopted the Cyber Crimes Bill with the proposed amendments, meaning SA’s Cyber Crimes Bill is inching closer to finalisation.

“One thing is clear, and that is that now is not the time to ignore information security. With this in mind, we decided to hold our annual ITWeb Security Summit, which has become SA’s top cyber security event, as a virtual summit from 25 – 28 August.”

According to Mace, there are many reasons a virtual event will be beneficial to all South African businesses looking to strengthen their cyber security posture. “Firstly, delegates will be able to access the entire event from the comfort of their own homes or offices, and less travel time means more time for work and family.”

In addition, delegates can pop in and out of sessions as they wish, without disrupting anyone, and can juggle work deadlines with the sessions that appeal to them the most. “There’s no need to choose between sessions or miss an important call – all conference materials and recordings can be accessed online, when it suits the individual.”

Naturally, with the event being a virtual one, the conference price is significantly reduced, yet offers even more content, making it an irresistible proposition for those holding the company purse strings, Mace adds.

“All delegates can be easily located and one-on-one virtual meetings set up for those who are keen. Similarly, networking can be done virtually too. And let’s not forget that by attending the event, delegates can learn new skills in managing virtual technologies and online tools,” she ends.