How the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020 impacts corporate South Africa

Cyber security concerns highlighted in Aon’s Cyber Security Risk Report, include:

• Only 40% of organisations report having adequate remote work strategies.
• Just 21% of organisations report having baseline measures in place to oversee critical suppliers and vendors.
• Only 31% of organisations report having adequate business resilience measures in place to deal with ransomware threats.
• Less than two in five organisations (36%) report having adequate levels of data security preparedness.

According to Zamani Ngidi, Cyber Solutions Senior Client Manager at Aon South Africa, the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020 creates cybercrime offences and prescribes penalties related to cybercrime. “It provides overarching legal authority on how to deal with cybercrimes, by regulating how these offences must be investigated which includes searching and gaining access to, or seizing items in relation to cybercrimes,” Zamani explains.

The introduction of the Cybercrimes Act recognises that cybercrime is on the increase. The Act codifies offenses and consolidates cybercrime laws in one place.

“Essentially, it aims to stop cybercrime, keep people safe from criminals, terrorists and improve the security of the country. The Act provides that cybercrime is seen as a criminal offence under South African law, which is a massive step in the right direction for South African businesses in terms of holding cyber criminals liable for their actions,” says Zamani.

And while the Cybercrimes Act provides legal recourse for any company victimised by an act of cybercrime, the Act’s relationship with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) could potentially create a myriad of liability and conflicting obligations when an incident occurs.

“We unpack these ambiguities in our 2023 Cybercrimes Act Report and how corporate South Africa can protect itself from cybercrime by implementing Aon’s Cyber Loop methodology, which seeks to remediate concerns in a company’s environment and reduce balance sheet exposure,” says Zamani.

To download the report, please follow the link: Cybercrimes Act Report 2023