This week's swoop on an international cyber fraud ring is a milestone for local authorities, in that it marks the first major cross-border collaborative operation involving the Hawks, US authorities and Interpol, says national Hawks spokesman captain Paul Ramaloko.
This week, 24 suspects were arrested across three countries - 11 of them in SA - in connection with an international syndicate that allegedly bought goods online using stolen credit card information, and then resold the goods in various markets.
The case was first reported in Mississippi, in the US, after which the US Immigration and Customs Homeland Security authorities approached the South African authorities for assistance in investigating the case in SA. The suspects will all be tried in the US on charges of fraud and theft.
"We cannot say we are winning the war against cyber crime, but we are making progress," says Ramaloko. Asked about perceptions that the local police services lack the skills needed to make major inroads in the fight against cyber crime, Ramaloko notes that in the world of cyber crime, "it's not about quantity, but about quality of skills. It just takes one good investigator to crack a syndicate. However, we are not complacent. We are actively growing our cyber crime fighting skills, because the criminals are advancing day by day."
Professor Basie von Solms, director of the Centre for Cyber Security at the University of Johannesburg, hails this week's breakthrough as a "very positive move".
Von Solms notes SA ranked third in the world in the number of cyber crime victims, on Norton's recent global Cyber Crime Report. "With so many soft targets in the country, it is not surprising that cyber criminals are taking advantage."
He reiterates the view that the fight against cyber crime must become proactive, rather than reactive, and must be driven by government. "We need a national government-driven training and skills development programme, a national cyber security awareness programme, a national cyber security monitoring centre for 24-hours-a-day global monitoring and warnings, and recourse for the man in the street who gets defrauded by cyber criminals."
Brigadier Piet Pieterse, section head of the electronic crime unit, commercial crime in the directorate for priority crime investigation at the SAPS, and Von Solms will be among the local and international cyber security experts speaking at next week's ITWeb IT Security Summit in Sandton.
Share