Kabelo Makwane – Managing Executive: Cloud, Hosting & Security at Vodacom Business

In the last four years, we’ve seen a broad cultural shift when it comes to the relationship between businesses and technology. This shift has made way for more agile and intelligent business outcomes. But growing adoption speeds and digitalisation are far from new phenomena.

However, the dialogue around these achievements has changed. In 2013, businesses were aiming to achieve the status of being “technologically enabled”. Today, simply having the technology is no longer enough, thanks to cybercrime. While the adoption of AI has helped improve the agility and efficiency of above-board businesses, so, too, has it helped improve the efficacy of cybercriminals.

Cybercrime has risen rapidly to the top of the list of business concerns. Internet of Things (IoT) and the sudden shift to work from- home models kick-started the age of cybercrime. In that period, incidents rose by 600%, and don’t show signs of slowing. One report predicts the cost of cybercrime will continue to rise to $10.5 trillion by 2025, up nearly 117% from 2015. Today, organisations need to be more than just technologically enabled, they need to be future-secure.

Being future-secure means incorporating the human aspect of cybersecurity. Research says 88% of data breaches are the result of human error. This is compounded by poor training, with 42% of organisations listing a failure in their employee security training as one of their top three challenges.

Organisations can no longer take the approach that cybersecurity is the responsibility of just the Chief Technology Officer and their team. Rather, a basement-to-boardroom approach to cybersecurity, which incorporates effective training, is the key to ensuring the security of your organisation.

And this comprehensive approach is becoming even more important. Voice and video mimicking have recently gained popularity among malicious groups. While early AI allowed criminals to produce impressively tailored written phishing emails and text messages, this more recent advancement allows near perfect impersonation.

So how do organisations become future-secure and ensure they are equipped to meet these changing challenges? Although a “human firewall” is arguably the most important factor, organisations must be able to match the malicious groups pound for pound in terms of technology as well as use this technology in a way that serves their purpose. This is where the concept of a cybersecurity footprint is important.

Similar to a digital footprint, a cybersecurity footprint specifically refers to the information related to an individual or organisation’s cybersecurity measures, practices, vulnerabilities, and defences in the digital realm. Incorporating everything from firewall configurations to encryption methods, a cybersecurity footprint encompasses the security protocols, software, hardware, policies, and practices in place to protect digital assets and sensitive information. It is crucial that this is analysed on a regular basis to address any vulnerabilities that may have developed and to understand the adequacy of your current measures.

But again, this technology cannot exist in a void, and neither can people. It is critical that organisations implement robust and regular training programmes to keep employees up to speed on the latest threats, policies, and procedures and improve the cybersecurity attitudes and skills of employees for any strategy to be truly effective.

To help businesses achieve this and reduce the prominence of failed cybersecurity training, Vodacom Business is asking organisations of all sizes to “Turn to Us” to protect your data and equip your employees, from the basement to the boardroom, with the skills they need.

Web : www.vodacombusiness.co.za