In response to the recent increase in cyber crime in SA, Vodacom Business has joined forces with Web security company Cloudflare to offer distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection and traffic acceleration for network infrastructure.

The telco says the global cyber crime pandemic triggered by COVID-19 may be here to stay, making it critical for businesses to ensure they are protected.

It points out that news reports of the local attack of a critical healthcare organisation in June indicates South African businesses are not exempt, with South Africa seeing a 33% increase in the volume of cyber attacks since March.

Life Healthcare Group is one of several South African entities that have been targeted by hackers this year. In February, Nedbank warned that the information of about 1.7 million clients was potentially affected by a data breach, and the following month, chemicals and fertiliser maker Omnia Holdings said its IT infrastructure was subject to a cyber attack.

DDoS attacks are fast becoming a common type of cyber attack locally and Vodacom says the partnership with Cloudflare will help provide businesses with faster, more secure and reliable Web site services.

This type of cyber attack targets Web sites and online services with the goal of overwhelming them with more traffic than the server or network can accommodate.

Vodacom says digital businesses depend on constant, uninterrupted connectivity, and network and Web services availability is crucial to ensuring customer satisfaction, trust and confidence in a brand or business.

“With new attacks varying in size, duration and persistence, DDoS protection has become an essential part of every business and organisation’s online presence,” says Vodacom.

It says cyber security has become a major concern for organisations of all sizes, as protecting devices, networks, client data and apps is an essential component of doing business in today’s digital world.

According to the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2020, cyber attacks are ranked as the second risk of greatest concern for business globally over the next 10 years.

Commenting on the partnership, Kabelo Makwane, managing executive for cloud, hosting and security at Vodacom Business, says: “As a leading supplier of telecommunications, infrastructure and enterprise software in South Africa, Vodacom Business’s partnership with Cloudflare ensures that our customers have the best products and solutions available to protect them from today’s increasingly sophisticated online threats.”