Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Listed: All the MVNOs in South Africa – 2025 edition

      19 June 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      19 June 2025

      WhatsApp founders hated ads – Meta is adding them anyway

      19 June 2025

      China’s car factories run cold as price war masks deep overcapacity

      19 June 2025

      Yellow Card, Visa in deal to hasten stablecoin uptake in Africa

      19 June 2025
    • World

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025

      Yahoo tries to make its mail service relevant again

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Company News » Companies concerned over how their brands are exploited by cybercriminals

    Companies concerned over how their brands are exploited by cybercriminals

    By Mimecast1 September 2020
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Mikey Molfessis, cybersecurity expert at Mimecast

    South African organisations are growing wary of criminals exploiting their brands to target their customers, partners or the general public. According to the latest Mimecast State of Email Security Report, 84% of South African organisations are concerned about a Web domain, brand exploitation or site spoofing attack.

    “Cybercriminals are acutely aware of the ease with which they can register lookalike domains and launch sophisticated attacks impersonating trusted brands that are nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. It’s become common for malicious actors to use our favourite retailers or other loved brands and services to trick people into handing over money or sensitive information. And it’s becoming harder for these brands to continue to avoid responsibility,” says Mikey Molfessis, cybersecurity expert at Mimecast.

    He says local concerns outweigh global averages, with 47% of local organisations admitting they are very concerned about an attack that directly spoofs their e-mail domain, compared to a global average of 40%.

    It’s critical that organisations look beyond the perimeter to determine how threat actors are damaging their brands online

    “It’s critical that organisations look beyond the perimeter to determine how threat actors are damaging their brands online. As a start, they need to adopt Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC),” says Molfessis. DMARC is an e-mail validation system designed to uncover anyone using a brand’s domain without authorisation. This means brands can monitor who is sending mails on their behalf and instruct receiving servers to reject unauthorised e-mails. This helps protect receivers from falling victim to fraudulent mails. “In South Africa, 96% of respondents were aware of DMARC, but only 30% were using it — perhaps an indication that the importance of using such a solution to protect brand reputation has not yet been realised for many organisations.”

    C suite

    And while brand protection is certainly on the radar for IT and security decision makers, has its importance reached the rest of the C suite? The report found that CIOs and chief information security officers (CISOs) are most likely to control the budget for securing the organisation’s corporate brand from Web or e-mail spoofing or other forms of exploitation and impersonation. “There is an argument to be made for the chief marketing officer to take ownership of this budget since they are typically responsible for their brand’s reputation, but our research revealed this is the case at only 10% of South African organisations,” says Molfessis. No matter who manages the budget — whether it’s the CFO, CMO or CIO — what’s critical is having budget set aside for this important element of cybersecurity. And the budget owner also needs to work closely with the organisation’s security leader to make the right purchasing decisions.

    “Considering nearly four in 10 South African organisations expect the volume of Web or e-mail spoofing attacks to increase in the next 12 months, it makes sense to have a dedicated senior resource looking after the organisation’s online brand integrity. Worryingly, 16% of organisations we surveyed didn’t even know if a Web or e-mail spoofing attack had used their domains or lookalike domains. This could have devastating effects on the organisation’s brand and reputation if left unchecked. If organisations don’t have the tools to actively look for exploits, or unless someone takes the time to report them, they’re difficult to find which leaves brands none the wiser.”

    Standard Web and e-mail security strategies are no longer enough. Organisations need to protect their brands online and ultimately protect their customers and supply chains by preventing fraudulent senders using their domains or lookalike domains.

    Detailed information is now available in the global Mimecast State of Email Security 2020 Report and South African infographic.

    • This promoted content was paid for by the party concerned


    Mikey Molfessis Mimecast
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleChina just called Trump’s bluff on TikTok
    Next Article Creating the 21st century restaurant is just a platform away

    Related Posts

    New CEO for Mimecast as Peter Bauer steps down after 21 years

    17 January 2024

    Budget cuts undermining SA firms’ ability to protect against cyberattacks

    18 March 2022

    Mimecast spurns R103-billion Proofpoint take-private bid

    14 January 2022
    Company News

    Doing more with less: Altron and Microsoft to show the way forward

    19 June 2025

    Why parents choose CambriLearn for online education

    19 June 2025

    Disrupt first, ask questions later – the uncomfortable truth about incident response

    18 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.