International fame, or is it infamy?

February 2013 News & Events

How sad that the plight of the South African security industry makes it onto CNN in a short programme looking at the challenges the industry faces from its own government. It would be something to crow about if the programme praised our security companies and operators, but instead the broadcast was angled at the fear the industry has created in governmental circles.

Apparently the South African private security industry is the biggest in the world, employing around 400 000 people. With more operators than the police and military, and probably better training than many of them, it appears the security industry is perceived as a threat by our esteemed government.

At first it seems like a joke, but when considering the corruption at all levels of government, any even semi-law-abiding organisation with guns must be a threat. Perhaps that seems a bit cynical, but what other reason could government have for trying to hinder the operation of the second-largest employer in the country and a fairly effective anti-crime force?

The solution for government is actually quite simple. If you do not want to see the private security industry growing and succeeding in the way that it is, improve the police force and act against corruption. That way there would be no need for 400 000 private security operators and even less need for the hundreds of fly-by night operations that give the industry a bad name. But I suppose that solution is simply a fantasy.

Putting a value to malware

As you may have noticed, we are introducing a few articles on information security here and there in Hi-Tech Security Solutions. This is not a move away from our traditional base, but an acknowledgement that information security is becoming a more important component of an overall security solution.

One of the issues surrounding spending money on antivirus and anti-malware solutions has always been that of cost: what is the real cost, if any of a virus infecting a machine?

We have heard of large American companies that suffered millions in damages after one of the more famous outbreaks, but one always wonders how real those figures are. Well, I recently received some information from a CIO who could put the cost into a Rand value.

This company had one PC in one of its offices that for some reason did not have the company’s standard antivirus software installed on it. Within a few weeks of being installed, the PC 'caught' a Trojan. Fortunately, the servers and other computers in the organisation were protected so the malware could not spread, and it was caught quite quickly.

The fix, however, will cost about R2000 to clean the system and reinstall everything and get it back into productive use. Now that is a real value you can put on getting hit with malware and something to compare the cost of an antivirus package with.

Andrew Seldon, Editor



Credit(s)




Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page



Further reading:

Highest increase in global cyberattacks in two years
Information Security News & Events
Check Point Global Research released new data on Q2 2024 cyber-attack trends, noting a 30% global increase in Q2 2024, with Africa experiencing the highest average weekly per organisation.

Read more...
From the editor's desk: We’ve only just begun
Technews Publishing News & Events
The surveillance market has expanded far beyond the analogue days of just recording and/or monitoring screens. The capabilities of surveillance technology today extend to black screen monitoring with ...

Read more...
The future of the surveillance channel
Duxbury Networking Technews Publishing Elvey Security Technologies SMART Security Solutions Surveillance
The video surveillance market has evolved from camera-based specifications to integrated solutions that solve customers’ problems. Moreover, the growth of AI and cloud has changed the channel even more, with more to come.

Read more...
AI means proactive surveillance
DeepAlert Technews Publishing SMART Security Solutions AI & Data Analytics Surveillance
SMART Security Solutionsasked DeepAlert for some insight into how AI is transforming video surveillance, even to the extent of it being taught to protect the privacy of those in the cameras’ view.

Read more...
The state of the VMS market
Arteco Global Africa Milestone Systems Cathexis Technologies Technews Publishing Surveillance
SMART Security Solutions asked three platform vendors in South Africa, one that is developed and maintained in the country with an international market, for their views on the state of the VMS market and where it is headed.

Read more...
SAFPS issues SAPS impersonation scam warning
News & Events Security Services & Risk Management
The Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS) is warning the public against a scam in which scammers pose as members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and trick and intimidate individuals into handing over personal and financial information.

Read more...
Strong industry ties set Securex South Africa apart
News & Events Training & Education
Securex South Africa, co-located with A-OSH EXPO, Facilities Management Expo, and Firexpo, is a meeting place of minds, where leading security, safety, fire, and facilities professionals come together, backed by strong ties with the industry’s most influential bodies.

Read more...
Connected commercial drone market to reach US$37.3 billion
News & Events Commercial (Industry) IoT & Automation
The global market for connected commercial drones is forecast to grow from US$18.6 billion in 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% to reach US$37.3 billion in 2029

Read more...
Phishing attacks through SVG image files
Kaspersky News & Events Information Security
Kaspersky has detected a new trend: attackers are distributing phishing emails to individual and corporate users with attachments in SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) files, a format commonly used for storing images.

Read more...
Fully-integrated browser AI
News & Events
Opera Mini now provides all its smartphone users with its own free built-in browser AI, Aria, including AI chat, Ask Aria and image generation. According to an Opera survey, 80% of South Africans want AI tools integrated into their browser.

Read more...