A semantic knowledge base of the national cybersecurity environment in South Africa
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Date
2024
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Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
Cybercriminals are placing increasing focus on South Africa, making it a notable target for cyber-attacks. The South African government has initiated several measures to counter cyber-attacks such as the National Cybersecurity Policy Framework (NCPF) and Cybercrimes Act. In the author’s review, the NCPF represents a vital initiative aimed at fostering a secure and resilient cyberspace, thereby enabling government, businesses, and civil society to fully harness the benefits of digital technologies. Various structures are being established because of the NCPF but to achieve an efficient cybersecurity strategy there must be a strong partnership amongst business, government, and civil society. South Africa requires a holistic approach to ensure a more secure cyberspace to avoid major cybercrimes, cyber-attacks, and cyber warfare. The structures and policies that follow from these measures have not been fully implemented yet. Although the government published the NCPF in 2015 and enacted the Cybercrimes Act in May 2021, there is still a gap in terms of interoperability and shared understanding within the environment. Numerous new structures have been established, and others are still being planned. One example of a new structure is the Cybersecurity Hub (Hub), the national Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), that is mandated to co-ordinate attack information and provide support for cyber incidents
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Keywords
Cybersecurity governance, Critical national infrastructure protection, Cyber-attack, Ontology, National cybersecurity