by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG – WITH almost half of South African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) becoming victims of cyber attacks annually, the latter half of 2024 and beyond must be devoted to adopting a zero trust approach to cyber security.
Managing Director for PerfectWorx Consulting, Jaco Voigt
That is according to an industry executive as SMEs bear the brunt of such criminality.
“SA is today a cybercrime hotspot and small businesses are most at risk,” said Jaco Voigt, Managing Director of PerfectWorx Consulting.
“Fortunately, there are two rays of light on the cyber security horizon,” said Voight, whose company is a provider of Cisco technology ecosystem solutions.
Firstly, Voigt sees anecdotal evidence of small business owners becoming more enthusiastic about proven zero trust principles that deny access to an enterprise’s digital resources by default and require verification from everyone.
The second reason to be hopeful for local SMEs’ fortunes in their battle against ransomware and malware, is that the latest Cisco Cyber security Readiness Index reveals that almost 80 percent of local firms plan to increase their cyber security budget by at least 10 percent this year.
“With the growing popularity of the approach that says no-one is automatically trusted, we expect a large part of 2024’s predicted cyber security boost will go towards zero trust adoption which has been shown to prevent data breaches, particularly at under-resourced smaller firms,” noted Voigt.
Zero trust security means that no one is trusted by default from inside or outside the network, and verification is required from everyone trying to gain access to resources on the network. This added layer of security has been shown to prevent data breaches.
“SMEs can deal a body blow to organised cyber criminals by assuming a zero trust stance and only running business-grade cyber security solutions from leading vendors,” said Voigt.
He explained that by partnering with internet technology providers like Cisco, PerfectWorx could supply voice, data and cyber security solutions that support strategy.
– CAJ News
