Mimecast partners with The National Small Business Chamber

Issued by Clockwork Media for Mimecast
Johannesburg, 26 Aug 2016

As the Cape Town leg of NSBC (National Small Business Chamber) Expo kicks off, leading e-mail security company Mimecast South Africa has announced its partnership with The National Small Business Chamber.

Brandon Bekker, MD at Mimecast South Africa, says that the partnership is part of Mimecast's goal to empower and harness small businesses in the country, as they are the major contributors to our economy and most likely to be targeted for cyber attacks. The ever-evolving threat of cyber attacks is one of the major challenges that small businesses face daily and there needs to be awareness around it including the available options to protect a business against threats of this nature.

"We are particularly excited to be attending both the Cape Town and Johannesburg events where we will be demonstrating to all attendees how easy it is to be a victim of cyber crime through a live hack! Furthermore, for us to actually get in front of these businesses, spreading our message in person through demonstration is powerful."

Small and medium enterprises make up 91% of formalised businesses, providing employment to about 60% of the labour force and contributing roughly 34% to the GDP, according to The Banking Association of South Africa. Gearing them up - to combat against cyber security is pivotal.

My Business Expo is Africa's biggest show for start-ups, upcoming and growing businesses, with over 25 000 visitors, 500 exhibitors and sponsors and seminars. The expo presents all the new trends, ideas, cutting-edge solutions and world class seminars.

Mimecast hopes that through this partnership, individuals and businesses will be made aware of, and in some cases reminded on the following truths:

* More than 90% of cyber attacks begin with e-mail;
* 83% of IT security professionals consider e-mail to be the most common source of the attack;
* 64% believe the attacks to pose a high or extremely high threat.
* In the first three months of 2016, 67% of organisations had seen an increase in attacks designed to extort fraudulent payments; and
* 43% of organisations saw an increase in attacks specifically asking for confidential data like HR records or tax information in the first three months of 2016.

Mimecast

Mimecast makes business e-mail and data safer for more than 19 000 customers and millions of employees worldwide. Founded in 2003, the company's next-generation cloud-based security, archiving and continuity services protect e-mail and deliver comprehensive e-mail risk management in a single, fully-integrated subscription service. Mimecast reduces e-mail risk and the complexity and cost of managing the array of point solutions traditionally used to protect e-mail and its data. For customers that have migrated to cloud services like Microsoft Office 365, Mimecast mitigates single vendor exposure by strengthening security coverage, combating downtime and improving archiving.
Mimecast E-mail Security protects against malware, spam, advanced phishing and other emerging attacks, while preventing data leaks. Mimecast Mailbox Continuity enables employees to continue using e-mail during planned and unplanned outages. Mimecast Enterprise Information Archiving unifies e-mail, file and instant messaging data to support e-discovery and give employees fast access to their personal archive via PC, Mac and mobile apps.

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