Yet‚ according to a top law firm‚ the private and public sector are not taking the threat “seriously enough’’.
David Loxton‚ from Dentons SA‚ said often cybercrime goes unreported but research has found that it is growing rapidly.
In a statement‚ issued on Monday‚ he quoted recent figures from Symantec‚ a software security company.
Globally in 2015 more than 500 million personal records stolen or were lost and phishing attacks increased by 55%.
In 2014 South Africa had the highest number of cyber-attacks in Africa and losses were estimated at about R50-billion.
Loxton went on to say there were “shortcomings in the justice system’’ which posed a challenge when it came to cybercrime.
Police‚ he said‚ lacked “the resources and specialist skills to take on the complex‚ multi-jurisdictional investigations’’.
In addition laws used to prosecute criminals either do not exist or are inadequate locally and internationally.
