Nedbank, Telkom, Discovery and Investec are among top South African listed companies with the most exposure to cybersecurity risks.
This is according to a new research report from the Cyber Intelligence Research Group, the results of which are being released on Monday at CyberCon, a cybersecurity conference in Johannesburg.
The Cyber Exposure Index (CEI) was launched in Singapore earlier this month. Over the next few months, indices for eleven major global stock exchanges outside of the US will be released. Following the release of the Singaporean and Finnish indices, the South African index is the third to be published.
The CEI scores listed companies on their levels of exposure. South African companies received an average exposure rating of 1.9.
The index aggregates data that is publicly available through the dark and deep Web, or as the result of third-party data breaches. This data is used to identify top listed companies’ vulnerability to hacker group activity, disclosed sensitive information and leaked credentials.
Companies are then scored from 0-5, where 0 indicates no exposure and 5 places a company among the 1% of firms with the most exposure.
While no South African company scored a 5, many household names — from Sasol to Liberty Holdings and from Woolworths to Anglo American — scored a 4.
ICT sector
In the ICT sector, those scoring a 4 included Telkom, MTN and EOH. Mix Telematics, Vodacom, Huge Group, Mustek, Adapt IT, Blue Label Telecoms and Naspers all scored 3. ICT companies scoring at the other end of the scale, with 0, included Alviva Holdings (formerly Pinnacle Holdings) and Labat Africa.
Telecommunications companies have among the highest levels of exposure in South Africa at 13.1%, compared to the global average of 2.4%, according to the researchers.
The company responsible for the index, Kinkayo, is a Singapore-based cyber intelligence organisation founded by professionals in the cybersecurity field.
The CEI has been developed as a way for companies to gauge their cyber exposure, empower them with the opportunity to identify where their vulnerabilities lie and take decisive action against their risks, it said. — (c) 2017 NewsCentral Media
- Download the full list (PDF)