Skill shortage remains a challenge

There is an acute scarcity of the highly skilled professionals that are needed by the country to manage the very real cybercrime threats that face South Africa. A number of different professionals from different sectors must be trained to make up a core response team for national threats that affect the running of the government and key business sectors that are most vulnerable to cybercrime.

The Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority’s (INSETA) analysis of the insurance industry’s scarce and critical skills needs identifies that information and communications technology (ICT) professionals are in high demand for their technical skills, and the needs are being prioritised by the sector.

Identifying a growing problem

Cybercrime has been classified, alongside international terrorism and natural disasters, as a top priority by the US, UK and other governments. South Africa has become one of the most targeted countries for cybercrime, especially phishing attacks.

There is no one qualification towards which a cybercrime specialist can be trained in South Africa. There are, however, different training courses, which are not well articulated with
each other and do not respond holistically to this key human resource development issue.

The type of professionals that are required and the skills that they require to adequately address cybercrime include:

• Cyber security experts. These would be highly skilled technical experts who will be involved in protecting information through an effective cyber security programme. Similarly highly skilled experts would be needed to realistically test defences in a simulated environment to identify vulnerabilities. The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) requires that organisations that store consumer data, are required to protect the data and have systems in place to prevent data leaks. Organisations have to report data breaches and what steps they have taken to fix the breach. The insurance industry is an industry that holds large amounts of their clients’ personal data and the question remains: are we protecting our client’s data at all costs?

• Cryptographers who can hack and crack codes.

• SAPS officials, prosecutors and judges who understand and recognise cybercrime and how to correctly open a docket; how to investigate and charge the cyber criminals and successfully prosecute them. Presenting of electronic evidence in court. Further gathering police intelligence using sophisticated technology to effectively stop cyber criminals in their tracks.

• Insurance underwriting. Cybercrime insurance is relatively new in the country and many businesses are underinsured in this area. There are only a few underwriters that operate in this space, and people with experience of this complex underwriting process are still in the minority. There is a general view that this type of insurance is adequately covered under existing business insurance. However, in most instances this is not the case. POPI will likely force organisations to consider cybercrime insurance more seriously.

How does one stop this?

Experts suggest that the most effective way an organisation can detect cybercrime is to internally monitor suspicious and unauthorised access, as well as use external mechanisms of fraud detection for independent assurance.

The search for talent in this regard is being hampered by the lack of a well-coordinated human resource development plan to develop all the professionals in the cybercrime value chain.

The Finance Minister is advised on matters relating to e-commerce in the financial services sector by the E-Commerce Advisory Committee (ECAC). The Financial Services Board (FSB) plays a
convenor and facilitator role for this committee. They have identified cybercrime as the biggest threat to e-financial services in South Africa. It is estimated that SA loses R2.65 billion per annum on cybercrime.

The challenge will also be to keep skilled individuals in the country. As this is a growing international problem, skilled labour will be in high demand in markets far more attractive than South Africa.