3 Signs Your Business Is Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks (and What to Fix First)
South African businesses remain high‑risk targets in a sharply escalating cyber-threat landscape. According to INTERPOL’s 2025 Africa Cyberthreat Assessment, ransomware incidents surged in 2024 with South Africa seeing 17,849 detections, the highest on the continent . Meanwhile, BlackSuit ransomware disrupted the National Health Laboratory Service, affecting over 6.3 million unprocessed blood tests and critical healthcare operations in June 2024 .
Here are three tell‑tale signs your business might be at risk – and what you should fix first.
1. Cybersecurity Is Treated as an IT Problem, Not a Strategic Business Risk
Comprehensive ICT Audit and Assessment:
Too many South African organisations still relegate cyber risk to “back‑office” IT. But regulatory expectations are shifting: under FSCA Joint Standard 2, boards must own cyber risk, define policy, and align cyber strategy with business objectives.
What to Fix First:
Establish cyber governance with board and executive accountability. Develop a risk-based cybersecurity strategy that aligns with corporate goals not just a list of vendor tools.
2. You Lack Visibility of Your IT Assets and Data Access
Many businesses can’t answer basic questions: What systems are running SharePoint on‑prem? Who has access to sensitive data? What apps are unmanaged? Shadow IT and unpatched systems create blind spots like the unpatched Microsoft SharePoint servers exploited in the National Treasury breach in July 2025 .
What to Fix First:
Build an IT inventory covering endpoints, servers, cloud services, and third-party integrations. Classify and map sensitive data, patch critical systems promptly, deploy multi‑factor authentication and review access controls regularly.
3. You Invest in Tools, Not Resilience
Buying security tools without implementing proper processes, training, and incident readiness leaves organisations fragile. SMEs often neglect user awareness and incident response planning yet phishing remains the most common entry vector in Africa .
What to Fix First:
Prioritise cyber resilience: conduct phishing simulations, deliver security training, build and test an incident response plan, ensure immutable backups. Then streamline toolsets for visibility and cost control.
Recent South African Case Studies
National Treasury (July 2025): A global Microsoft SharePoint zero‑day vulnerability was exploited, impacting the National Treasury’s reporting systems. Although no operational disruption was reported, the breach affected over 400 organisations and serves as a warning about legacy SharePoint infrastructure unpatched for critical CVEs .
National Health Laboratory Service (June 2024): The BlackSuit ransomware attack crippled NHLS IT systems across 256 laboratories. Over 6.3 million blood test results couldn’t be processed electronically, forcing manual operations and delaying care for critical health conditions
Department of Defence (September 2023): Sensitive classified data was leaked publicly after attackers exploited insufficient internal access controls, underscoring national-security risks facing public sector IT estates (widely reported in government disclosures).
These incidents reinforce that attackers exploit unpatched infrastructure, poor visibility, and insufficient resilience even in critical public‑sector institutions.
FSCA Penalties and the Regulatory Landscape
Under FSCA Joint Standard 2, non‑compliance can trigger:
- Administrative penalties up to R15 million per breach
- Restrictions on operations
- Personal liability for directors in negligent cyber governance
Boards cannot ignore cyber risk any longer it’s as critical as financial risk.
Where to Begin?
Cybersecurity is no longer optional, it’s central to business survival. Organisations that thrive in this environment will:
- Address cyber risk through governance, accountability, and strategy
- Build visibility into assets and data flows, closing shadow IT and patch gaps
- Focus on people, process, and resilience, not just tools.
At m‑konsult, we guide businesses in South Africa to shift from firefighting to strategic, risk‑based cyber resilience aligned with FSCA JS2 and local threat realities. Ready to build your cyber roadmap?
Reach out or book a consultation. Visit: www.m-konsult.com/contact or connect with me on LinkedIn
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