As a technology service provider committed to supporting Africa’s digital future, we’ve spent the last few years observing the shifts in digital transformation adoption and the accompanying threats that likely follow. Often, the security of our new digital systems is not considered at length but rather as an afterthought.
Anecdotally, we know that cyber security has been through an evolution, and that the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the ecosystem; but as we were about to formally launch our cyber security offering, we wanted to make sure the conversations we were having with customers were reflected by the industry at large.
To get some hard data so that we could better advise our customers and their end-users, we commissioned a survey of key IT decision makers across the continent. These opinion leaders were asked for their insights on the state of cyber security in Africa. No surprise to most that 57% of the surveyed population stated that they have seen an increase in threats to their businesses over the COVID-19 pandemic period.
The study also found that a huge concern for these stakeholders was that a cyber security breach would have detrimental financial impacts on their companies. With participants warning that compromised company data and information will disrupt business activities and might result in the loss of customers, business closure, bankruptcy, loss of income and sales.
Noting both previous findings, it is also unsurprising then that an overwhelming majority of respondents – 83%, have an increased focus on cyber security this year and beyond, and will likely use the time to address their system vulnerabilities and better equip employees.
In order to stay abreast of the cyber trends for almost two decades and provide the best possible advice to customers, we’ve cultivated strategic partnerships with organisations such as Netskope, Logicalis, Microsoft and Cyber Risk Aware. Through these partnerships, we’ve developed a cyber security offering built on the best solutions in the industry to address the changing demands of a digitally transformed business world. Our key priority is allowing customers to focus on their core business offering while we manage their complete IT environment – network, cloud, and security.
Our recently unveiled Cyber Security unit was created with the changing nature of African businesses in mind. We wanted to help businesses secure their organisation right from the cloud to the desktop – an end-to-end solution; designed to protect customers, at every intersection of their digital transformation journey.
Officially launched across the continent on 9 September, our solutions were built with three core elements in mind:
- Secure People – breaches often start because employees are not educated about the vulnerabilities and what to look out for. Our offerings are built on products and services that focus on training employees to mitigate and identify security risks to the business
- Secure Access – in our new post COVID reality, it’s important that solutions are tailored for a new hybrid model of work, with many employees working outside of office. Our secure access solutions allow businesses to empower their employees to work from any location knowing that the security measures put in place will alert and prevent any cyber-attacks, resulting in peace of mind for the customers.
- Secure Systems – many companies deploy several systems across the digital spectrum, with security managed by many different services providers. We are consolidating these services, allowing businesses to evaluate their architecture design and implement a secure cloud environment while monitoring all cyber threats, internal or external.
We’re so excited to officially share the cyber security expertise we’ve been building with your business in mind. We hope that you will reach out to find out more about how we can partner to help secure Africa’s digital future.
Cyber Security Infographic
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