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Exposing organised cyber crime

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 05 May 2015
Relying on technology and software gives companies a false sense of security, says DFIRLABS founder Jason Jordaan.
Relying on technology and software gives companies a false sense of security, says DFIRLABS founder Jason Jordaan.

With SA's Internet population growing year-on-year and with it the pool of potential victims, organised cyber crime in the country is undoubtedly on the rise, yet government and companies do not place enough focus on this area of lawlessness.

This is according to Jason Jordaan, founder of independent digital forensics laboratory DFIRLABS, which provides digital forensic science support to organisations, investigators and legal practitioners. Jordaan will address ITWeb Security Summit 2015, at Vodacom World, Midrand, later this month.

Jordaan says, while most are familiar with "traditional" organised crime like corruption, extortion and drug dealing, these are active in cyberspace as well. "Organised cyber crime has developed [a] really good presence in online crime."

At the end of the day, he says, it is all about where cyber criminals can profit the most. He notes organised crime syndicates are not made up of "your typical fraudsters or hackers", and so to defend against this type of threat, organisations need to understand the threat and what they are up against.

Jordaan says local companies should not assume the latest technological or software solution will keep them safe. "If you have something of value to an organised crime group, they will invest significant resources to compromise you. Relying on technology and software will give you a false sense of security."

He says, instead, companies should invest heavily in human capacity.

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Government, too, has a role to play, says Jordaan. He believes SA's leadership could be doing more to combat the threat of cyber crime. "[Government needs to] increase resources and to invest in training and technology."

Jordaan, who was in law enforcement for 23 years before joining the private sector, believes many of SA's approaches to combating organised crime are outdated. "This is especially true in cyberspace. We are generally disorganised while they are organised, and that gives them an edge."

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