Econet boss urges company investments against cyber attacks

By Staf reporter | 05 Dec 2018 at 06:34hrs
Douglas Mboweni
ECONET Wireless chief executive, Douglas Mboweni has urged companies to invest towards protecting their computers and networks against cyber-related attacks which may lead to serious losses, NewZimbabwe reported.

Addressing delegates Tuesday at a Cyber Security Executive Breakfast meeting hosted by the Information Communication Technology ministry, Mboweni said that time had come to raise awareness and take action.

"The challenges brought about by cybercrimes (technology attacks) calls for raising awareness, ownership and action in averting the potential losses," he said.

He observed that as the world is moving towards total uptake of technology, the issues concerning associated risks could not be ignored.

"At least 20 percent of the world's risks are cybersecurity-related. In Africa at least USD 3.5 billion is lost annually due to technology-related crimes and out of these losses, at least a third of the risks have been committed by staffers within organisations. Globally, the cost of cybersecurity is expected to reach US$6 trillion making it a reality not worth ignoring," he said.

The Econet boss said the worrying fact is that 90 percent of Africa's organisations were operating below the minimum cybersecurity standards.

Against these factors, Mboweni said that there was need for companies to collaborate and come up with relevant deterrent legislation.

"Stakeholders must work towards the development of National Cyber Security Strategy and financially investing towards the fight to against technology crimes," he added.

The cybersecurity week is an annual initiative to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity availing collaborative efforts between government and industry to ensure that internet users have the resources they need to stay safer and more secure online while increasing the resilience to the cyber threats.

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