Preparing South Africa for cyber crime and cyber defense

Abstract

The international scope of the Internet, the fast technological advances, the wide reach of technological usage and the increase in cyber-attacks require the South African administrative and legislative system to both intersect largely with the application and implementation of international legislation, take timeous precautionary measures and stay updated on trends and developments. South Africa at present does not have a coordinated approach in dealing with Cybercrime and does not have a comprehensive Cyber defense strategy in place. The structures that have been established to deal with Cyber security issues are inadequate to holistically deal with these issues. The development of interventions to address cybercrime requires a partnership between business, government and civil society. This article will provide an approach to deal with making the civil community aware of Cyber Crime and provide a defense mechanism to assist governments from developing countries to prevent their countries to be used as targets or intermediary for either Cyber Crime or Cyber Warfare.