Page 63 - 2022 IRMSA Risk Report

South Africa Top Risks

SECTION 3: South Africa Top Risks continued

The biggest culprits to interruptions are: / i ˜iÜ ÞLiÀ Àˆ“ià čVÌ Vœ`ˆwià VÞLiÀVÀˆ“ià >˜`
• Cyber security breaches: As technology imposes heavy penalties for offences. The Act should
becomes more pervasive and the `iÌiÀ VÞLiÀ VÀˆ“ˆ˜>Ã >˜` i“«œÜiÀ >Ü œvwVˆ>Ã ̜ Ã܈v̏Þ
VœÃÌ œv Vœ“«Ṏ˜} `iVˆ˜iÃ] Ì iÀi respond to cybercrimes. This will also bolster investor
ˆÃ >˜ ˆ˜VÀi>Ãi ˆ˜ ˆ} Þ œÀ}>˜ˆÃi`] Vœ˜w`i˜Vi >˜` Vœ˜ÃՓiÀ ÌÀÕÃÌ°
sponsored and sophisticated cyber-attacks. Organisations must also adopt a pragmatic risk-based
/ iÃi č`Û>˜Vi` *iÀÈÃÌi˜Ì / Ài>Ìà Vœ˜Ìˆ˜Õi >««Àœ>V ] ˆ˜vœÀ“i` LÞ > ÃiÀۈVi VÀˆÌˆV>ˆÌÞ vÀ>“iܜÀŽ]
to be a major cause of outages and methods which must contain key indicators (e.g. type of
œv >ÌÌ>VŽ ˆ˜VÕ`i À>˜Ãœ“Ü>Ài] « ˆÃ ˆ˜} >˜`] `>Ì>] ÀiÛi˜Õi ˆ“«>VÌ] VÕÃ̜“iÀ ˆ“«>VÌ] Ài}Տ>̜ÀÞ
ˆ˜VÀi>Ș}Þ] Vœˆ˜ “ˆ˜ˆ˜}° "Ì iÀ VÞLiÀ ÃiVÕÀˆÌÞ ÀiµÕˆÀi“i˜ÌÃ] >˜` Ì i ëii` œv ˆ“«>VÌ®°
threats that are compromising digital services The outcomes must be used to inform business resiliency
include Shadow IT within organisations and «>˜˜ˆ˜}° ˜ >``ˆÌˆœ˜] œÀ}>˜ˆÃ>̈œ˜Ã “ÕÃÌ Õ˜`iÀÃÌ>˜` Ì i
security threats from 3rd parties.
ˆ˜ÌiÀVœ˜˜iVÌi`˜iÃà œv Ì iˆÀ ÃiÀۈViÃ] ˆ˜VÕ`ˆ˜} Ü œ Ì iˆÀ
• Connectivity outages: Infrastructure underpins service providers are. Security control assurance must be
Àiˆ>Li `ˆ}ˆÌ> ÃiÀۈVið >œÀ Vœ˜ÌÀˆLÕ̜Àà iÝÌi˜`i` ̜ Ì ˆÃ ܈`iÀ ˜iÌܜÀŽ°
Ài“>ˆ˜ œ>`à i``ˆ˜}] ˆ˜ÌiÀ˜iÌ œÕÌ>}ià >˜` >Ã̏Þ] > `iˆLiÀ>Ìi vœVÕà œ˜ `iÛiœ«“i˜Ì œv Փ>˜
quality degradation. Services outages are V>«ˆÌ> ̜ `i> ÜˆÌ `ˆ}ˆÌ> ÀˆÃŽÃ ˆÃ ŽiÞ ­i°}° ÃiVÕÀˆÌÞ]
compounded by the concentration of a few «Àœ}À>““ˆ˜}] >`Û>˜Vi` ˜iÌܜÀŽˆ˜}®° / ˆÃ “ÕÃÌ Li
>À}i ¼ˆ˜ÛˆÃˆLi½ ˆ˜ÌiÀ“i`ˆ>ÀˆiÃ Ì >Ì «ÀœÛˆ`i accompanied by strong retention programmes to ensure
most internet services. These platform talent stays within organisation and the continent.
«ÀœÛˆ`iÀÃ] VœÃÌ i>`iÀà `Õi Ì iˆÀ ÃV>i] >Ài
increasingly becoming the internet’s biggest œÀ čvÀˆV>] Ì i `ˆ}ˆÌ> ÀiۜṎœ˜ «ÀiÃi˜Ìà “>˜Þ
threat. œ««œÀÌ՘ˆÌˆiÃ] LÕÌ ˆÌ ˆÃ œ˜Þ œÀ}>˜ˆÃ>̈œ˜Ã Ì >Ì >Ài ÃiVÕÀi
and resilient by design that will have the advantage and
U *iœ«i v>V̜ÀÃ\ iëˆÌi Ì i ˆ˜VÀi>Ãi` thrive in a digital world.
introduction of technologies such as robotics
>˜` >Õ̜“>̈œ˜] “œÃÌ œÕÌ>}ià >Ài `Õi ̜
Փ>˜ iÀÀœÀð ˆÃVœ˜w}ÕÀ>̈œ˜Ã Ài“>ˆ˜ Ì i
i>`ˆ˜} V>ÕÃi] LÕÌ >VŽ œv ΈÃ] >VŽ œv VÞLiÀ
threat awareness and keyman risk as a result of
poor knowledge management also contributes.
Government accelerates digital adoption by
promoting favourable policies and increasing
investment in infrastructure to ensure that more
people are connected. But this alone will not
be enough. Simply being connected will not
}Õ>À>˜Ìii µÕ>ˆÌÞ œÀ Àiˆ>Li ÃiÀۈVið -ˆ“ˆ>ÀÞ]
“ˆÃ`ˆÀiVÌi` >À}i ëi˜` ̜ ¼ÃiVÕÀˆÌÞ½ ܏Ṏœ˜Ã ܈
not guarantee better results. Building a successful
and sustainable digital economy requires a sound
policy framework.
"˜ > «œÃˆÌˆÛi ˜œÌi] Ì i ˜iÜ Ìˆ“iˆ˜iÃ
communicated by the ICASA regarding the
allocation of spectrum shows promise that
infrastructure development will soon be unlocked
>˜` i˜>Li Ì i Àœ œÕÌ œv ˆ} ëii`] ˆ}
capacity 5G networks that are crucial for providing
advanced digital services and further reducing the
costs of access.

IRMSA RISK REPORT • SOUTH AFRICA RISKS • EIGHTH EDITION 61