Cybercrime in Africa

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

“Crimes used to happen through stickups, but today criminals use mouse clicks,” said Greg Garcia, a U.S. spokesperson for financial industries. This statement comes after the discovery by the U.S. Homeland Security Department of malware infections in millions of computers in more than 90 countries. These types of infections are incredibly dangerous because they allow cybercrime orchestrators to get hold of web users’ secret information and passwords and use them to siphon money from their bank accounts.

This issue is extremely pressing in Nigeria, where U.S. experts are working in conjunction with Nigerian officers to fight cybercrime. It is clear from the 2013 U.S. “Money Laundering Report” that Nigeria is very high on the list of countries riddled with financial cybercrime activity. U.S. Homeland Security experts are therefore stationed abroad fighting the hoards of Nigerian money launderers, while other parts of the department are taking on the notorious Citadel malware that is at the centre of cybercrimes on a global scale.

South Africa is another country suffering heavily from cybercriminal activity where the notorious cybercriminal mastermind, Sipho Msomi caused havoc. Msomi, only recently caught by the authorities in Durban, was found guilty of hacking into the computers of none other than the South African government, and stealing in excess of millions of rands from several state departments.

Despite his capture and current eight year prison sentence, he is only one of a “huge syndicate”, according to Sunette Potgieter, a warrant officer for the Hawks Forensic Division. In a speech given to the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, she said that, upon messaging Msomi, and informing him that he was to be investigated for cybercrime, he sent an email back to Durban police that simply read: “Catch me if you can.” Potgieter also said that Msomi is just one individual part of a large network, of which three other suspected individuals are now appearing in Durban Commercial Crime Court in March 2014.

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

Potgeiter also gave information on how people could avoid becoming future victims of cybercrime. She explained that the majority of the problem lies with ordinary people simply being unaware of the actual presence of cybercrime and the huge risks it poses to them. South African people, in particular, she said “have no idea how they expose themselves and no idea how to protect themselves” from having their passwords stolen and their money swiped. This has happened through devices and gadgets being stolen and hacked. As money.co.uk suggest, it is important to browse safely, to get your devices insured and adequately protected with the correct software to minimize this risk.

Stressing that people must be accountable for maintaining the secrecy of their private information Potgieter says that this can be done through the backing up of one’s data using reliable flash devices and also, through the use of trustworthy passwords. “unique passwords are the only way to safeguard ourselves…a good password stops a hacker in his tracks.” This can, hopefully, go some way to rectifying the worrying statistic that South Africans have the third-highest number of cybercrime victims in the world, behind Russia and China, according to a global survey of 24 countries. 18 cybercrimes occur per second around the world.

In 2012, alone, there were over 1,000 cases of Sim Swapping in South Africa: ten times the amount of the previous year. This has led to disputes between banks and mobile network companies as to who is to blame. Potgieter, herself, seeks to let people know how to prevent such problems happening in the first place: urging customers not to take calls from strange numbers because “they can take your air time, even if you have a contract, and make phone calls”.

Africa is suffering from a cybercrime pandemic. What must be focused on now are the ways to combat the criminals: through increased awareness, through administrative change and through people taking extra care with their own valuable information. People like Sunette Potgieter are doing everything they can to ensure that this can happen.