A lot still needs to be done to improve South African organisations’ cyber security posture.
This is the observation of Ayanda Peta, president and chairperson of the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) South Africa Chapter, in an interview with ITWeb TV.
His comments come as South Africa has increasingly become what some describe as a prominent target for global cyber attacks, due to perceived weaknesses in its cyber security defences.
Local organisations across various industry verticals have been hit hard recently by cyber criminals, based on the uptick in the report rate by the organisations, or information on the dark web about local organisations, noted Peta.
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A report published by cyber security company Surfshark reveals South Africa ranks among the world’s worst-hit countries globally for cyber crime density, with estimated annual losses reaching R2.2 billion ($118 million).
ITWeb also reported that, in an environment where hacks are surging even as response times improve, JSE-listed companies could lose as much as 30% of their share value following a crisis such as a cyber attack.
Peta said organisations still have a lot to do in terms of their cyber security hygiene and uplifting their posture, from fundamentals all the way up to having an advanced capability.
“This comes with a lot of investments that’s required, and it also depends on the organisation’s own risk posture, or the extent to which they want to manage their risk when it comes to cyber. However, we know that all organisations probably have cyber security as a very high risk in their enterprise risk registers.”
On why South Africa has become an “attractive” target for cyber criminals, he said it’s hard to pinpoint one specific thing but that the maturity of organisations’ controls may be perceived to not be as advanced and the threat actors go on that perception.
“In some cases, we probably become collateral damage because of the global state, particularly given the geopolitical landscape.”
Foundational requirements
When considering the vulnerabilities that make many of the local organisations targets, Peta said it boils down to the basics.
Just this year, banking, insurance, educational and state-owned institutions have reported their systems being compromised by cyber criminals.
There is also a rise in digital fraud and impersonation scams targeting South African consumers and businesses, with cyber criminals increasingly leveraging trusted brands and executives to manipulate victims into disclosing sensitive information or making fraudulent payments.
Given this escalation, Peta said it has been observed that there are gaps in the basics. “If you hear an organisation has reported a breach or a cyber attack, when you dig in and get down to what transpired, you get to see that the basics need to be done and done consistently.
“This message has come across strongly now with the wave of AI [artificial intelligence]. In terms of AI, the message that comes through with respect to cyber security is that we need to just go back to the basics.
“The [cyber] hygiene needs to be clear – a simple thing of doing vulnerability management and ensuring your identities are protected from a basic level.
“That's why we are in the state we’re in; the basics are missing. Vulnerabilities, attacks and cyber crime exploit those basic things that organisations don’t do.”
He added that the state of what’s happening in real-time versus what is reported is probably worse than most can imagine, and it’s the same globally.
“You’ll find that there are a lot of organisations that experience a breach but don’t necessarily report it, which are the numbers we won’t know. The picture is probably much worse than what we hear and read about.”
What’s accepted in the cyber security space, he pointed out, is that an organisation can never be 100% secure; there will always be the residual risk. However, preparation for future events that could potentially result in a breach is key. “The capability to respond to that is critical.”
Championing cloud security
Peta is a seasoned cyber security and cloud computing leader and serves as the president and chairperson of the CSA South Africa Chapter.
The local chapter was formed a year ago, with the vision to become the leading advocate for cloud security in the region.
“We want to bring the community together…previously, the conversation in the industry was all about cloud, but it has now changed to be about AI. Artificial intelligence is not divorced from cloud; if anything, it’s built within a cloud environment.
“Therefore, cloud security is critical and needs to be championed. We cannot fight this battle alone. There are other community-based organisations...we need many of those to make sure people are informed of what is happening.
“We need to be at the forefront of AI and sharing information around what's happening in AI, and more specifically, how it impacts cyber security, or what cyber security risks are emanating from these AI models that are coming out.”
Peta will be a speaker at the upcoming ITWeb Security Summit 2026.
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