Marius CoetzeeMarius Coetzee


The FBI ranks South Africa in sixth place out of the top 10 cyber crime perpetrators. The country is seen as a stepping stone for criminals moving between Africa and the world.

This is according to , MD of Cyanre, who was speaking at the ITWeb/Ideco IDentity Indaba. Myburgh identified internal and external threats to an organisation as he took delegates into the world of IT-based forensic investigation.

Trends reveal the rate of cyber crime is growing substantially, and attacks are becoming more sophisticated and targeted. Mark Eardley, channel manager at SuperVision Biometric System, pointed out that cyber villains tend to be employees, although they may include foreign intelligence services and large organised crime networks.

Increasingly, valuable information like customer data and business strategies are vulnerable and targeted by cyber criminals. The speakers reiterated the fact that prosecuting cyber criminals is difficult, as the cyber world has no boundaries and international co-operation is needed to overcome jurisdiction limits.

Companies need to identify and understand the threat, and implement effective processes to protect their valuable data assets – both tangible and intangible. Companies must develop and enforce IT policies that cover laptops, smartphones and tablets.

“Identity is whatever makes an entity definable and recognisable,” said , opening speaker and MD of Ideco Biometric Security Solutions. Risk management and workforce management are part of the identity management value chain, and enable businesses to function more efficiently, and more securely.

Key experts shared valuable insights on how biometric identity management can reduce enterprise risk and cut costs by securing business processes. Mike Henderson, CFO of XDS, shared some startling figures related to the losses and costs associated with identity fraud. He said identity verification in the financial services industry can help to address current problems, but emphasised that consumer buy-in remains a challenge when it comes to using biometrics as a means of identity control.

The risks associated with the poor management of user access were highlighted by , senior consultant at Ubusha Technologies. He also discussed the implications that the King III Report on Governance for South Africa, the Protection of Personal Information Bill, and Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 have on managing access.

, director at ens forensics, concluded the day’s presentations with the importance of the segregation of duties, as he shared some new thinking regarding fraud risk identification.