Amid geopolitical uncertainty and the rise of AI, companies need to ensure they have sovereign cyber resilience to safeguard their digital estates, according to Lucas Ledwaba, CEO of Phakamo Tech.
Speaking at the ITWeb Security Summit in Sandton, Ledwaba said companies must have full control over their data, the decisions they make and their ability to respond to change.
“From a data perspective, this means where they host their data, the contracts they and their users sign, how users consume that data, and the resiliency and recovery around it," he said. "They need to ensure that they can always recover their data within the timelines required by the business.
“We all operate in a global world – everything is connected, with multi-dependencies. Geopolitical developments impact the technologies that drive our economy and society as a whole. Organisations need to know what control they have over their technology investments and critical data.”
He continued: “The world is volatile now. Should a nation direct a multinational cloud service provider to cut services to South Africa, for example, local organisations should at least hold a copy of the keys to their digital environments.”
According to Phakamo Tech, three forces are reshaping local cyber defence: AI-driven attacks operating at machine speed; fragile supply chains compromised through software that users did not write; and a global skills gap that pulls local talent out of SA. These are all sovereignty problems, the company noted.
Organisations need to strengthen cyber resilience through integrated cyber security, governance and risk management, Phakamo added. The company's Sovereign By Design model aims to defend South African organisations when the threat is global.
Ledwaba said: “We help security leaders answer key questions like: Where does our security telemetry actually live, and whose laws govern it? Who is making the AI-driven decisions that defend us, and where are they sitting at 2am? And when the worst happens, who is in the room – and how quickly can they be there? Organisations need the assurance that they can remain resilient, no matter what happens.
“When a hyperscaler processes your incident data, you don’t just outsource detection – you outsource jurisdiction. Phakamo designs the residency policy, documents the cross-border flows and defends the decisions to your regulator,” he said. "We help customers engage with their OEMs and advise them on how to control and protect their data in line with their internal governance structures, risk appetite and compliance requirements."
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