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Why Hospitals Are Such Lucrative Targets for Cybercriminals
Image sourced from Alpine Security. Ransomware attacks are on the rise. After a surge in remote working and with employees accessing organisational networks in ways that aren’t always perfectly secured, cybercrime has spiked over the past few months as malicious parties have taken advantage of the sudden move to life in lockdown. Opportunistic hackers have found a particularly tender target to focus on: hospitals and healthcare providers. Across Europe, hospitals are being taken down on a far too regular basis, causing IT systems to fail – sometimes with fatal consequences. Of all the industries to attack, why healthcare in particular? While all organisations suffer when cybercrime strikes, with lives at stake cybercriminals know hospitals can’t afford any downtime. This means those in the...
Comic Con Africa Sets Live Return Date After Being Forced Online
Image sourced from YOMZANSI. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_106.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_106.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Comic Con Africa is set to return on 22-25 September 2022 for a 3-day event to be hosted at the Johannesburg Expo Centre. The first two events, Comic Con 2018 and 2019 were both organised by Reed Exhibitions Africa. The third live event was planned in 2020, but it was moved online due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with similar expo events in the country. The event is seemingly going to skip 2021 in the hopes that next year’s landscape is a little less COVID positive. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_42f.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_42f.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } ⚠️ IMPORTANT UPDATE⚠️ To our Com...
President Buhari’s Administration Facing Lawsuits Over Twitter Ban
Image sourced from Reuters. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_896.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_896.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } There are at least 2 large-scale pending legal suits that have been filed against the federal government of Nigeria over its controversial 4 June decision to indefinitely suspend access to Twitter in the country. Since the ban, the legality of the government’s decision has been widely questioned, and stakeholders in the civic space have seemingly begun moving to challenge the decision which has sparked national outrage and attracted international media criticism in the weeks since the ban. SERAP Seeks Legal Action /* custom css */ .tdi_3_622.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_622.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The Socio-Economic Rights an...
South African Investors Lose $3.6-Billion in Massive Crypto Scam
Image sourced from Shutterstock. AfriCrypt, a South African cryptocurrency investment company, has reportedly defrauded around $3.6-billion in investor funds after the company made claims that its trading systems had been hacked. Investors in AfriCrypt reportedly count amongst South African celebrities and other high profile individuals. In a matter of hours the staggering monetary amount, around R54-billion, seemingly disappeared without a trace on 13 April. $3.6-Billion in Stolen Cryptocurrency Shortly after claiming that its systems had been shut down by a hack, AfriCrypt’s teenage “directors”, brothers, Ameer and Raees Cajee (17 and 20, respectively) allegedly transferred all investor funds from their South African bank account before fleeing to the UK, reports Independent Media. AfriC...
PoPIA Deadline Extended – Information Officer Registration Portal Broken
After a series of technical glitches with the Information Regulator’s registration portal for information officers looking to achieve compliance with the PoPI Act, the 1 July 2021 compliance deadline has been scrapped. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Information Regulator said that this decision is also based on numerous concerns raised by responsible parties regarding the registration process. “The regulator is currently looking into alternative registration processes and will communicate this in due course. We understand that our portal malfunctioning has caused a lot of anxiety and panic and for that, we really do apologise,” Information Regulator chair Pansy Tlakula said. Deadline Extended by 1 Year With this, the regulator has extended the applications for prior authorisation ...
Microsoft Reaches $2-Trillion Valuation Driven by Cloud Computing Offerings
Image sourced from NS Energy. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_df0.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_df0.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Microsoft has taken its place as the second US publicly traded company in history to reach a $2-trillion market value, joining predecessor Apple in a very exclusive club. The company has been buoyed by betting its dominance in enterprise cloud computing with Microsoft Azure. Microsoft seems set on continuing to release future enterprise software to users in a post-pandemic world. Its shares rose as much as 1.2% in New York on Tuesday, allowing Microsoft to briefly join Apple as one of only two companies trading at such a golden value before closing a little bit lower than the mark at $265.51. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_eb4.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left...
Mastercard and Zamtel Partner to Drive Financial Inclusion in Zambia
Today Zamtel, a government-owned telecommunication service provider in Zambia, and Mastercard have announced a strategic partnership that will enable Zamtel Mobile Money customers – even those without bank accounts – to make safe and seamless digital payments on the Mastercard network including international e-commerce transactions. This is expected to drive financial inclusion and improve access to the digital economy. Under the agreement, Zamtel will launch a suite of Mastercard products including a Mastercard virtual solution, a physical debit card, and Mastercard QR, giving its Mobile Money customers new ways to access and pay for products and services at the millions of merchants that accept Mastercard in Zambia and abroad. Virtual Payments via Zamlet Mobile Money With a Mastercard vi...
Investing in STEM Crucial for African Countries to Benefit from 4IR
Image sourced from STEMpedia. To ensure African economies benefit fully from the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), and the data economy it will bring, there are several trends that industries on the continent need to fully embrace. These include artificial intelligence, cloud, machine learning and the Internet of Things. Enabling the utilisation of these, however, requires two pivotal focuses. The first is an investment in infrastructure. The second is Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills development, so that African economies have the core competencies needed to participate in the data economy, says Adesh Nathalal, Education Manager at SAS in South Africa. The clock is ticking. By 2030, the above needs to be accomplished to ensure African economies can leapfrog devel...
Ramaphosa, Macron Announce “Landmark” Plan to Produce mRNA Vaccines in South Africa
French President Emmanuel Macron and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Image sourced from The Sowetan. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_eed.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_eed.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } South Africa is set to build a new hub for manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines, announces President Cyril Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa addressed a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday. The conference was facilitated by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Macron, who referred to Ramaphosa as “my friend”, said that the partnership was the result of his state visit to South Africa at the end of last month. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_7dd.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_7dd.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The WHO issued a call for Expression...
MTN Commits $1.5-Billion for Broadband Access Across Nigeria
Sourced from TheTechieGuy (https://thetechieguy.com/) MTN Nigeria plans to invest 640-billion naira (approximately US$1.5 billion) over the next three years to expand broadband access across the continent’s most populous country, in line with the federal government’s 2020-2025 National Broadband Plan and in support of MTN Group’s Ambition 2025 strategy. “Nigeria is one of our most important markets. We have a proud history of partnering with Nigeria and Nigerians to drive faster and more inclusive growth through digital transformation,” said MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita after a three-day visit to Abuja and Lagos, in which he met a number of key stakeholders. These included President Muhammadu Buhari; Vice President Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo; Minister of Communications and Digita...
Uber South Africa is Offering 100,000 Free Rides to Get Teachers Vaccinated
Sourced from CNet. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_09d.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_09d.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The South African government has fast-tracked the vaccine rollout for teachers and staff at schools across the country. Educators and staff of schools will begin receiving their COVID-19 jabs on Wednesday 23 June in a two-week push project aiming to administer 582,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine. Teacher Vaccines Fast-Tracked Fast-tracking the rollout for teachers and schools staff is a major step in managing the country’s school system that has become embattled since the pandemic began in earnest. Thousands of teachers have succumbed to COVID-19 since March of 2020, and students have been living in anxiety of school closures and from h...
Facebook Removes Fake Profiles Attacking Opposition Parties Ahead of Ethiopian Elections
Image sourced from Politico. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_c20.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_c20.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Social media mega-corp Facebook said on Wednesday that it had removed a network of fake accounts in Ethiopia targeting domestic users ahead of general elections next week in the country. The company said that the network was found to be linked with Ethiopia’s Information Network Security Agency (INSA). Posting mostly in Amharic about news and current events, including information about Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his Prosperity Party, the network of fake accounts was also posting critical commentary about opposition politicians and groups including the Oromo Liberation Front, Ethiopian Democratic Party and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, among...
