The DA notes with concern reports that the recent global cyber ransom attack has also spread to South Africa. The attack is considered to be the biggest global cyber-attack in history.
The DA will therefore request that the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence receives a briefing from the State Security Agency on the current state of South Africa’s cyber security.
Our economy loses billions of Rands through fraud and phishing attacks annually. These recent attacks will undoubtedly have even further major implications for the economy and state security.
The Cyber Crimes and Cyber Security Bill is set to be introduced to Parliament, almost 16 years after South Africa signed the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and the seriousness of the recent attacks only confirms the need for South Africa to do all that we can to improve our cyber security and to protect our infrastructure from attacks.
The fact is that some sectors within South Africa are woefully unprepared to deal with cyber-attacks, the effect of which can be utterly devastating.
A case in point is that the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services website, Cybersecurity Hub, set up for the purpose of reporting incidents and communicating existing threats to the public, has not been updated since October 2016 and is only expected to be officially in force from March 2020.
Government is also yet to come up with a national public awareness campaign to educate the public on threats to cyber security – a vital component in addressing these threats.
The recent cyber-attacks have managed to cripple the British National Health Service and our own government departments are not immune to such threats.
Apart from government departments, key infrastructure of the State and state-owned enterprises, banks, the private sector and private individuals are at risk.
The risk of further cyber-attacks still exists and we, therefore, need to be prepared.
The fact is that cyber security is becoming an increasingly vital component of South Africa’s overall security.
It is therefore very important that we know the current state of our country’s cyber security so that we can fully understand what needs to be done to improve and therefore protect our country from cyber-attacks.