Cybercrime, which include data breaches or ransomware attacks, and IT disruptions are the biggest worry for companies in SA this year, according to the latest Allianz Risk Barometer.
The study, released on Wednesday, says cybersecurity is foremost in SA companies’ minds after being the second-most important business continuity issue last year.
SA companies aren’t alone in this regard — companies globally rank cybersecurity as the biggest risk facing their operations.
“For many companies, cyberrisk, worsened by the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), is the big risk overriding everything else. It is likely to remain a top risk for organisations … given the growing reliance on technology,” said Rishi Baviskar, global head of cyberrisk consulting at Allianz Commercial.
“The CrowdStrike incident in summer 2024 once again underlined how dependent we all are on secure and dependent IT systems,” he added, referring to the US cybersecurity company that inadvertently distributed a faulty update to its Falcon Sensor software that caused widespread problems with Microsoft Windows computers. About 8.5-million systems crashed and were unable to restart properly.
Wesizwe Platinum, which owns the Bakubung mine in the North West, was hit by a cyberattack in December that exposed its finance, legal, procurement and human resources functions, including personal information.
In early July 2024, Sibanye-Stillwater discovered a cyberattack had compromised some of its ICT systems.
Cybercrime has also hit the SA government and public institutions. Several months ago an international ransomware syndicate claimed responsibility for an attack on the National Health Laboratory Service, which blocked patients’ laboratory results and compromised sensitive patient and government employee data.
The department of public works & infrastructure has lost at least R300m to cybertheft in the past 10 years.
The Allianz barometer shows that business interruptions and natural disasters rank second and third respectively as the biggest risks to SA companies.
SA’s improved energy supply and outlook has seen the risk of critical infrastructure blackouts, including power disruptions, fall to fourth place, down from the biggest risk leaders had flagged in the 2024 barometer.
Eskom has avoided load-shedding for almost a year, improving sentiment and adding to economic growth.
A new risk featuring in the barometer is a shortage of skilled workers and macroeconomic developments including governments’ austerity programmes.
The risk of political instability also dropped in the pecking order of issues for companies, thanks to peaceful elections in 2024 in which the ANC lost its outright majority for the first time since 1994 and led to the formation of a government of national unity.
However, geopolitics and protectionism remain a concern for corporations globally, with ongoing tensions in in the Middle East, Ukraine and Southeast Asia top of mind for many business leaders.
“The fear of trade wars and protectionism is increasing, and analysis by Allianz and others shows that within the past decade export restrictions on critical raw materials increased by a factor of five,” the study reads.
“Tariffs and protectionism may be top of the list of the new US government, but … there is also the risk of a ‘regulatory wild west’, particularly around AI and cryptocurrencies.”
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