31 January 2024

Human firewall vulnerability: 16% of companies in South Africa do not train employees on IT

According to Kaspersky’s Business Digitization survey¹, only 28% of companies surveyed in South Africa organised trainings on cybersecurity for their employees. 16% of businesses did not organise any IT-related trainings for their employees, even on basic IT functions. If an employee lacks digital skills and knowledge, this could lead to serious risks for the cybersecurity of the whole organisation: this employee could open a phishing link or download ransomware on a corporate device which may result in significant potential financial and reputation losses for the company.

There is a demand for training among employees in South Africa: as many as 35% would like to see more regular trainings on cybersecurity. Most often these are requested by employees working in the spheres of construction and engineering, education, hospitality.

”The ‘human firewall’ is one of the key defenses from cyber incidents. Third party research showed that 95% of cybersecurity threats are in some way caused by human error². This is why workers on any level — from top managers to interns — should receive proper cybersecurity training,” comments Andrew Voges, Kaspersky General Manager for Africa. “Kaspersky offers the Automated Security Awareness Platform to contribute to the education and upskilling of employees at all levels. The Platform is an online and on-premises tool that builds strong, practical cyber-hygiene skills for employees throughout the year.”

“At the same time, organisations should be ready for the human firewall breach and the threat from within, and for that they need 360-degree protection. Extended Detection and Response – XDR – is a cybersecurity solution that plays a significant role in addressing advanced threats, going beyond traditional Endpoint Detection and Response by providing extended visibility and analysis across multiple security layers and domains.”

To help your employees improve their digital skills, Kaspersky experts recommend:

· Conduct regular checkups to understand what digital skills are most needed for business.

· Organise cyber literacy courses and trainings for employees so they could improve their skills – use Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness Platform, an online learning tool that would help to train employees about relevant topics in cybersecurity.

· Make sure employees know about trending cyberthreats like phishing, scam, ransomware attacks and how to recognise and avoid them.

· Check your endpoint protection solutions, including antivirus and anti-malware software.

· Use Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions for real-time visibility into endpoint activities, allowing for the detection, investigation, and response to security incidents on individual devices.

· Use XDR for integrating and analysing data from various security sources, including endpoints, networks, email, and cloud platforms. This comprehensive visibility allows security teams to detect and respond to threats that may target different parts of the organisation.

Reference:

¹ 2,000 employees across SMBs & enterprises were surveyed in the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa region in 2023

² World Economic Forum Global Risks report https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2022.pdf