Preparing South Africa for Cyber Crime and Cyber Defense

Marthie Grobler, Joey Jansen van Vuuren, Jannie Zaaiman

The international scope of the Internet, the fast technological advances, the wide reach of technological usage and the increase in cyber-attacks require the South African administrative and legislative system to both intersect largely with the application and implementation of international legislation, take timeous precautionary measures and stay updated on trends and developments. One of the problems associated with the technological revolution is that the cyberspace is full of complex and dynamic technological innovations that are not well suited to any lagging administrative and legal system. A further complication is the lack of comprehensive and enforceable treaties facilitating international cooperation with regard to cyber defense. The result is that many developing countries in particular, are either not properly aware, not well prepared, or adequately protected by both knowledge and legislation, in the event of a cyber-attack on a national level. Even if these countries realize the threats, the time to react is of such a long nature due to consultation and legislative processes, that the legal systems provide little support to ensure timeous and necessary counter-measures. This article will address this problem by looking at the impact of technological revolution on cybercrime and cyber defense in a developing country and will evaluate the relevant South African legislation. It will also look at the influence of cyber defense on the international position of the South African Government. South Africa at present does not have a coordinated approach in dealing with Cybercrime and does not have a comprehensive Cyber defense strategy in place. The structures that have been established to deal with Cyber security issues are inadequate to holistically deal with these issues. The development of interventions to address cybercrime requires a partnership between business, government and civil society. This article will provide an approach to deal with making the civil community aware of Cyber Crime and provide a defense mechanism to assist governments from developing countries to prevent their countries to be used as targets or intermediary for either Cyber Crime or Cyber Warfare.

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