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Youth lack public security information

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 18 May 2016
There is a skills shortage in filling the gap in information security requirements of  online communities, says Geekulcha's Keitumetsi Tsotetsi.
There is a skills shortage in filling the gap in information security requirements of online communities, says Geekulcha's Keitumetsi Tsotetsi.

In SA we have an increasing level of civic tech in the form of big data discussions and hackathons. However we are not well prepared for the IT security emancipation that should accompany it.

This is according to Tiyani Nghonyama, COO and CTO of youth IT hub, Geekulcha, speaking at the ITWeb Security Summit 2016 in Midrand yesterday. He says we need to be well prepared for the vulnerabilities that come with the increasing number of young South Africans who are spending more and more time on the Internet.

"There is a need to develop a consciousness, especially among young South Africans, and prepare for the risks that come with Internet access and build capacity around public information security.

"The millennials who are always participating in hackathons, technology projects and who are constantly on social networks need to spend as much time educating themselves about cyber crime and its repercussions," he asserted.

We need to build ecosystems which can embrace the power of the collaboration between economies and get government and private sector to come up with innovative solutions of increasing information around security, while building solutions for African problems, he advised.

"What we have been doing is looking to international countries for solutions and yet we are not sure if these solutions are adequate for SA. If we could build enough capacity and momentum, we could have built skills of people who can come up with localised solutions. This will in turn ensure that our government is better informed," explained Nghonyama.

He added we spend too much time thinking about facilities and infrastructure, but we don't spend the same amount of time thinking about the security aspect of it.

"Do you remember the Free-State Web site which cost our government around R40 million? The same focus was not spent on the information security aspect of it," he warned.

Geekulcha consultant Keitumetsi Tsotetsi said we need to see more young South Africans enrolling for IT-related fields in tertiary institutions. She explained there is a huge information security gap between developed and developing countries.

"There is an increase in value and demand for data such as private information and passwords.

When they access this data, criminals are able to profile you; they know where you are and who you are," she said.

Tsotetsi pointed out there has been a significant growth of Internet use in developing countries. However there is a skills shortage to cover the information security needs of those people, and increase their security awareness.

In First World countries when facilities and infrastructure are built, they are built with security in mind, whereas when we, in SA, build infrastructure we only consider the security aspect when we get hacked, she observed.

The security awareness levels are low among South Africans and even worse among the youth.

"Security awareness is not only from an end-user aspect but other questions which we forget to ask are: Are you educating your cleaner about how to adequately dispose of sensitive information when throwing away documents in the house or the office? Are we educating our youth about securing their private information?" she asked.

"Among the global challenges we have observed is digital espionage where people have access to information because of the types of jobs they have but do they understand the responsibility of keeping that information private," she continued.

She highlighted the importance of employees understanding the consequences of exploiting this information.

"Cyber warfare is another important aspect. A country's strength can lie in their information security capabilities because although nuclear weapons may be a big deal, it's easier for a criminal to sit on the other side of the world in front of his laptop and bring the country down," she warned.

This, she explained, is because the Internet has no borders. Physically getting to the other country will take a longer time and the criminal could get caught before completing his mission.

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