Telkom, MTN and EOH are listed among local companies with the highest cyber exposure risk. This, according to the Kinkayo Cyber Exposure Index for 2017, which found these three groups fall into the top 25% of companies with the most exposure.
The Cyber Exposure Index (CEI) is based on data collected from publicly available sources in the dark Web, deep Web and data breaches.
"From that data, signs of sensitive disclosure, exposed credentials and hacker group activity against a company are identified. Companies are ranked based on the number of findings and the risk that the findings represent," the Singapore-based cyber intelligence company explains.
The CEI looks at the amount of cyber exposure within a group of organisations in a market and looks at three variables relevant to all organisations: disclosure of sensitive information; hacker group targeting towards the organisation; and exposed credentials.
The Index then ranks companies on a scale of 0 to 5 in terms of their exposure over the past 12 months:
– Category 5: ranked in the top 1% of companies with the most exposure.
– Category 4: ranked in the top 25% of companies with the most exposure.
– Category 3: ranked in the 50% of companies with above average exposure.
– Category 2: ranked in the 50% of companies with below average exposure.
– Category 1: ranked in the 25% of companies with the least exposure.
– Category 0: have no visible exposure in the past 12 months.
Models used in the Index were developed by an independent research group, CEI Research, which consists of security researchers and academic professionals from the industry, INSEAD Business School in France, National University of Singapore, University of Stirling in Scotland, and Tampere University of Technology in Finland. Data for the research was provided by Kinkayo.
The company ranking is relative to global scoring that is populated from 11 stock exchanges worldwide and fortune 500 companies. Each company gets an exposure score based on the variables and risks they represent.
The Index ranked 314 South African companies, 13.4% of which fall into category 4, and 28.3% of which fall into category 3. Category 2 was made up of 17.8% of South African companies, and category 1 of 16.6%. No local companies, however, fall into category 5, while 23.9% of local companies had zero exposure and ranked in category 0.
A number of SA's telecoms and IT companies showed a high level of exposure, with Telkom, MTN and EOH ranking highest in category 4. Vodacom, Huge Group and Blue Label Telecoms all fell into category 3, as did Mix Telematics, Ellies, Cartrack, Mustek, Adapt IT and Naspers.
Telemasters, Datatec and ISA Holdings fell into category 2, while category 1 held Metrofile and PBT Group. However, there was good news for Alviva Holdings, M-Fitec International, Cognition Holdings and Vodacom's BEE scheme, Yeboyethu, which were all ranked as having zero exposure.
When looking at exposure rankings per industry, globally, IT is the third highest exposed industry, making up 11.3% of total exposure, while telecommunication services make up just 2.4% of exposure. In SA, the IT industry makes up just 5.3% of exposure, while telecommunication services make up 2.7% of exposed companies.
Kinkayo says in today's digitalised world, data is the new currency and driver for all businesses, and a change in the business landscape presents new risks and threats to be remediated.
"The Kinkayo Cyber Exposure Index is the first step in this remediation and mitigation process by identifying existing threats and making them transparent," it says.
The other countries looked at by the index were Finland, France, Sweden, Germany, the UK, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong. South African companies received an average exposure rating of 1.9. The highest average exposure rating came from Finland at 2.4, and the lowest was Hong Kong at 1.
This is the first CEI to be published, and there are plans for follow-up reports to be published twice a year going forward.
SA Telecoms Companies
Ranking number
Company
Industry
Exposure Category
5
TELKOM
Telecommunication Services
4
39
MTN GROUP
Telecommunication Services
4
69
VODACOM GROUP
Telecommunication Services
3
80
HUGE GROUP
Telecommunication Services
3
102
BLUE LABEL TELECOMS
Industrials
3
136
TELEMASTERS HOLDINGS
Telecommunication Services
2
246
YEBOYETHU
Telecommunication Services
0
278
COGNITION HOLDINGS
Telecommunication Services
0
SA IT Companies
Ranking number
Company
Industry
Exposure Category
42
EOH HOLDINGS
Information Technology
4
59
MIX TELEMATICS
Information Technology
3
62
ELLIES HOLDINGS
Information Technology
3
77
CARTRACK HOLDINGS
Information Technology
3
89
MUSTEK LTD
Information Technology
3
100
ADAPT IT HOLDINGS
Information Technology
3
103
NASPERS
Consumer Discretionary
3
162
ISA HOLDINGS
Information Technology
2
184
DATATEC
Information Technology
2
192
METROFILE HOLDINGS
Information Technology
1
201
PBT GROUP
Information Technology
1
282
ALVIVA HOLDINGS
Information Technology
0
287
M-FITEC INTERNATIONAL
Information Technology
0
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