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Be Prepared for ransomware attacks | Ransomware

‘Tis the season to be careful: Avoiding ransomware attacks over the holidays

The festive season is upon us, and with it comes the unfortunate spike in crimes that accompanies the summer holiday season every year. Recently, cybercrimes have joined this trend with the number of ransomware attacks and other data breaches increasing in the December to January period.

As you prepare to close down for the summer and take a well-deserved break, cybercriminals are gearing up for a destructive holiday season. Here’s what SA families and business owners need to know in order to keep their data safe this year.

Africa: a prime target for cybercrimes

The African continent is ripe with opportunity, and internet adoption is running at double speed from Cape to Cairo – but cybersecurity is lagging, and that means huge vulnerabilities over the festive season and beyond.

  • The Interpol African Cyberthreat Assessment Report indicates that over half a billion internet users log on from locations in Africa. Internet penetration in countries like Kenya is over 80%, with SA approaching 60%.
  • Unfortunately, up to 90% of businesses in Africa are running sub-par cybersecurity protocols. This makes the continent a sitting duck for data thieves and ransomware hackers – and the festive season is the best time for them to strike.

Holiday season staffing opens vulnerability gaps

With many companies shutting shop for the festive season, skeleton crews will be taking the reins at IT departments around the country. That means fewer hands-on deck at a time of year when cyberattacks are at their peak.

South African companies typically have 50% of their cybersecurity staff on hand during the year-end holiday, compared with 80%-90% in other countries like Germany.

Securing your data during the year end break is essential, and it starts with secure passwords, cloud storage, and comprehensive backups. Making sure that these are in place before you close down for the holidays will let you rest easy as you enjoy a well-deserved rest.

Backup against ransomware attacks with Soteria Cloud

With reduced resources over weekends and during the holidays, assessing and assembling an incident response team in the event of a ransomware attack takes longer. Regular data backup is the best way to protect yourself against an attack at any time of the year.

We are an innovative cloud storage and backup service provider based in Cape Town. Learn more about what we offer and how it can keep your business data safe here.