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

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      Tesla shares soar after first robo-taxi rides hit the road

      24 June 2025

      ‘System offline’ scourge to end, says Schreiber – but industry must pay

      23 June 2025

      Why the spectrum gold rush may soon be over

      23 June 2025

      Tech stability key to getting South Africa off damaging financial grey list

      23 June 2025
    • World

      Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines hits $10-billion valuation

      24 June 2025

      Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

      19 June 2025

      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
    • 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

      TechCentral Nexus S0E3: Behind Takealot’s revenue surge

      23 June 2025

      TCS | South Africa’s Sociable wants to make social media social again

      23 June 2025

      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
    • 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
      • CambriLearn
      • 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 » New research reveals big pandemic cybersecurity gaps in South Africa

    New research reveals big pandemic cybersecurity gaps in South Africa

    By Acronis1 October 2020
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Acronis founder and CEO Serguei “SB” Beloussov

    In line with cyber protection company Acronis announcing the release of Acronis Cyber Protect 15, the just-released Acronis Cyber Readiness Report has revealed that South Africa was one of five countries that experienced almost twice as many malware attacks than the global average.

    The survey covered 13 400 global companies and remote workers in 17 countries, including South Africa, in the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

    Thirty-one percent of companies reported daily cyberattacks and half were targeted at least once a week, including in July when a leading manufacturer of GPS technologies allegedly paid US$10-million in a WastedLocker ransomware attack.

    Acronis Cyber Protect 15 integrates backup, disaster recovery, next-generation anti-malware, cybersecurity and endpoint management tools into a single solution

    Acronis Cyber Protection Operating Centers (CPOCs) found that 35% of customer endpoints were exposed to malware attacks that were still getting through before the deployment of Acronis Cyber Protect.

    Acronis Cyber Protect 15 integrates backup, disaster recovery, next-generation anti-malware, cybersecurity and endpoint management tools into a single solution. This one-of-a-kind integration eliminates the complexity of ensuring an organisation’s cybersecurity, while improving its data recovery posture and enabling greater productivity. The new product comes at a time when it is common knowledge that businesses are struggling to safeguard their data and infrastructure against the risks of the new remote work landscape.

    Most-common attacks

    The Acronis report reveals that hackers targeting remote workers, phishing, distributed denial of service (DDoS) and video-conferencing attacks are the most common. Thirty-nine percent of companies have encountered video-conferencing attacks as workers rely on apps like Zoom, Cisco Webex and Microsoft Teams. Cisco recently revealed a vulnerability in its Webex app that could allow attackers to open, read and steal potentially valuable or damaging content.

    “Videoconferencing protection prevents the exploitation of apps like Zoom, Webex and Teams. In fact, Acronis Cyber Protect prevented code execution exploits in Webex before it was patched by Cisco,” said Serguei “SB” Beloussov, founder and CEO of Acronis. “Based on the current cyberattack rate, the unique integration of backup and cybersecurity enables Acronis Cyber Protect to prevent an estimated $150-million in direct losses for its customers each year.

    Synapsys MD Peter French

    “The challenge for organisations is that managing the protection of data across the company network and all of those new devices using a stack of different solutions is expensive, time-consuming and complicated. The lack of integration also creates gaps in the organisation’s defences that cybercriminals are exploiting,” he said.
    Peter French, MD at Synapsys, the distributor of Acronis cyber protection in Africa, added: “This new product comes at the right time. Businesses are struggling to safeguard their data and infrastructure against the risks of the new remote work landscape.”

    Phishing attacks are occurring at historic levels, which is not surprising since the report found only 2% of companies consider URL filtering when evaluating a cybersecurity solution. That oversight leaves remote workers vulnerable to phishing sites – Acronis CPOCs discovered that about 10% of users clicked on malicious websites in May, June and July.

    The modern cyber landscape demands modern protection

    “The cyberthreat landscape has changed dramatically in the past few years, and in the last six months in particular. Traditional standalone antivirus and backup solutions are unable to protect against modern cyberthreats,” Beloussov said. “Organisations that modernise their stack with integrated data protection and cybersecurity not only gain greater security, they lower their costs and improve efficiencies. The automation and streamlined management of Acronis Cyber Protect 15 means any business can decrease their risk, avoid downtime and increase their IT team’s productivity.”

    “Ten percent of users might click on malicious links that lead to phishing attacks, but the URL filtering in Acronis Cyber Protect blocked all of those sites – protecting the users, their devices and their company’s data.”

    “Testing by independent cybersecurity labs such as AV-Test and Virus Bulletin shows that Acronis Cyber Protect’s antimalware detects 100% of malware attacks with zero false positives. If the GPS manufacturer had Acronis Cyber Protect, it would never have paid a $10 million ransom,” Beloussov said.

    The future of protection

    “The comprehensive cyber protection delivered by Acronis Cyber Protect will continue to be vital in the post-pandemic landscape. With 88% of the remote workers surveyed by Acronis expecting to work from home to some extent even after the pandemic ends, ensuring their protection and cybersecurity will require the kind of integration and automation only found in Acronis Cyber Protect 15,” he added.

    The benefits to businesses are already being lauded by organisations who have tried Acronis Cyber Protect 15. HomeBuys.com’s network administrator, Jorge Alexandres, noted: “Being able to bring together backup and restore, with remote desktop, patch management and antimalware into a single tool provides a lot of value. Instead of using two or three tools, having a single tool with a single console is the way to go.”

    About Acronis
    Acronis unifies data protection and cybersecurity to deliver integrated, automated cyber protection that solves the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity and security challenges of the modern digital world. With flexible deployment models that fit the demands of service providers and IT professionals, Acronis provides superior cyber protection for data, applications, and systems with innovative next-generation antivirus, backup, disaster recovery and endpoint protection management solutions. With award-winning AI-based anti-malware and blockchain-based data authentication technologies, Acronis protects any environment – from cloud to hybrid to on-premises – at a low and predictable cost.

    Founded in Singapore in 2003 and incorporated in Switzerland in 2008, Acronis now has more than 1 500 employees in 33 locations in 18 countries. Its solutions are trusted by more than 5.5 million home users and 500 000 companies, including 100% of the Fortune 1000, and top-tier professional sports teams. Acronis products are available through 50 000 partners and service providers in over 150 countries in more than 40 languages.

    • This promoted content was paid for by the party concerned


    Acronis Peter French SB Beloussov Serguei Beloussov Synapsys
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleOperators get to keep Covid-19 emergency spectrum for longer
    Next Article Google to pay publishers $1-billion for content

    Related Posts

    New data centre in SA for simplified, secured business operations

    2 March 2022

    Interview: The modern threat landscape – identify, isolate, respond

    22 June 2021
    Company News

    IoT connectivity management in South Africa – expert insights

    23 June 2025

    Let’s reimagine Joburg using the power of tech, data and AI

    23 June 2025

    Netstar doubles down on global markets while backing SA growth

    23 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.