The cyber security ecosystem is remarkably diverse. At the 2026 ITWeb Security Summit, ITWeb TV interviewed a range of experts – including a cyber security comedian – to shed light on the many issues shaping Africa’s cyber security landscape.
Teen hackers and the path to cyber crime
🎥 Joe Tidy, cyber correspondent at the BBC, spoke about the growing online community of teenage cyber criminals.
He explained that many teen hackers follow a familiar path, often beginning with gaming and cheat codes. As they discover communities on Discord and Telegram, their curiosity evolves, and they find their way into hacking forums and, eventually, cyber crime.
“A certain subset of those kids will go on to carry out serious cyber crimes, with profit and Bitcoin being the main drivers," said Tidy. "But they also want chaos.”
Tidy noted an addiction component as well. “Some of the people I’ve spoken to admit to being addicted not only to the process of breaking into companies and stealing data, but the power and thrill they get out of that as well.”
His research shows a growing baseline competency within this online community, although many would still be classified as "script kiddies" – amateur attackers who do not use their own custom code. Access to readily available tools and services on the dark web has lowered the barriers to entry.
“They’re not writing their own malware," Tidy said. "They are using off-the-shelf tools and becoming affiliates of ransomware groups. That means you don’t actually have to have the skills – you just have to hack in somewhere. Then you hire the malware and use the ransomware group’s extortion portal. You take 70% of the ransom, they take 30%.”
Geopolitics and the challenge of regulation
🎥 Allie Mellen, principal analyst at Forrester, spoke about how geopolitical uncertainty and nation-state threats are reshaping the cyber challenges facing organisations worldwide.
A major concern, she said, is the lack of regulation and standards, particularly from established global bodies such as the UN.
Mellen said cyber space is difficult to regulate, especially as some nations use cyber attacks for geopolitical leverage. The UN and other organisations have tried to set standards before, but certain nations veto and block these initiatives, she added.
Standards could help define points of escalation, she said. “Even the premise of a red line – something you can cross from a cyber security standpoint – establishes an escalation path that will take you to the next level, because it's saying: this is where things change, this is the moment things change."
Injecting humour to get the message across
🎥 Tobias Schroedel, an IT security expert and self-described "comedy hacker", spoke about the role of humour in cyber education and awareness.
Schroedel said he integrates humour into his interactions because people without an IT background quickly lose interest in technical conversations, especially material they cannot easily relate to.
"I figured out that when you tell people how to create passwords with some funny, interesting stories – sometimes a joke as well – they remember it," he said.
He emphasised that his approach is not a stand-up comedy routine, but rather a way of using amusing anecdotes to make a point and ensure it lands.
Burnout and toxic cultures
Cyber security can also be a mentally challenging – even toxic – environment, said 🎥 Marilise de Villiers, CEO of Roar Consulting & Coaching.
She spoke about the importance of mental health and creating healthier cyber security cultures. In such a high-pressure environment, she said, it is essential to address burnout, foster psychological safety and empower people to become an organisation’s strongest security asset.
De Villiers added that business leaders must lead by example and demonstrate a willingness to create an environment where people feel safe to speak up without fear of retribution, enabling an open reporting culture.
"It goes beyond the CISO," she said. "To scale this, you need to influence the organisation to say: if we want people to speak up in the case of a cyber incident, we'd better sort out our culture holistically at the top."
The frontline gap
While De Villiers focused on cyber specialists,🎥 Zethu Lubisi, an IT strategy professional and researcher, provided insight into a commonly overlooked area: frontline workers.
Lubisi said organisations often fail to equip frontline employees – like cleaners, security guards, gardeners and shop floor staff – with adequate cyber security awareness and training, creating a gap in the perimeter.
“Often when we hear about regulation and policy, it's at such a high level," she said. "One has to wonder: are frontline workers privy to that information? Do they get informed about policy? Are they told about what is and isn’t allowed?”
She added that communication for different tiers of employees must be delivered in a language that speaks to them, even if it needs to be packaged differently for different audiences – from entry-level staff to senior leadership. Awareness campaigns, she said, should not be a tick-box exercise.
“The question we should be asking is: was it effective and did everybody understand?”
Watch all of the video interviews from the ITWeb Security Summit here.
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