Vodacom Business partners with tech start-up, makes cybersecurity more accessible to businesses

• Vodacom Business has partnered with CybSafe, a British cybersecurity start-up, to give more companies access to security awareness and training (SA&T).
• Vodacom Business clients can now download the CybSafe app onto mobile devices and use it to reduce human-related cyber risk within their organisation.
• The start-up’s dedicated science team – made up of experts in psychology, cybersecurity, and cybercrime – developed the mobile platform to target, measure and change a range of specific security behaviours.

Vodacom Business has partnered with CybSafe to offer its clients and businesses on-demand access to security awareness and training. CybSafe is well-known for its industry-leading, customisable, behavioural-science based cybersecurity solutions. Now, Vodacom Business clients can download the CybSafe app onto mobile devices and use it to achieve cybersecurity compliance, while improving their employees’ security behaviours.

The news comes at a time when Africa’s growing networks are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. According to INTERPOL’s 2021 African Cyberthreat Assessment Report, the South African economy lost about US $573 million (nearly R10 billion) in 2016 – more than any other country on the continent. The report goes on the note that, “South Africa had 230 million threat detections in total, while Kenya had 72 million and Morocco 71 million. In South Africa, 219 million detections were related to email threats. South Africa also had the highest targeted ransomware and Business Email Compromise attempts. The exploitation of these vulnerabilities within South Africa was further highlighted by Accenture, who identified that South Africa has the third highest number of cybercrime victims worldwide.”

Vodacom’s move, which effectively puts cybersecurity at the fingertips of millions, will undoubtedly be welcomed by security professionals across the country. A step above traditional Security Awareness & Training (SA&T), the platform educates, nudges, and provides real-time security support, doing away with the tick-box exercises that have dominated the security industry for decades. Backed by behavioural science and powered by SebDB, the world’s most comprehensive security database – another CybSafe innovation – CybSafe’s approach reliably measures and reduces human-related cyber risk.

“At Vodacom Business, we understand that organisations of all sizes are facing enormous challenges in today’s business climate, including the proliferation of cyberattacks,” comments Kabelo Makwane, Managing Executive for Cloud, Hosting and Security for Vodacom Business. “As a leading technology provider and trusted digital provider to businesses, we are excited about this partnership. This will enable us to offer on-demand access to much needed security awareness and training to millions of users.”

CybSafe CEO and founder, Oz Alashe, expressed his confidence in the value this collaboration will bring: “Our new partnership with Vodacom Business will provide organisations in South Africa with access to CybSafe. This will help organisations reduce risk and improve people’s security behaviours. Unlike other platforms, CybSafe works to change people’s behaviour, turning employees into an organisation’s greatest defence – while empowering them with the knowledge and skills to detect and spot attacks before they cause harm. We are delighted to be a strategic partner for Vodacom Business."

The partnership represents one of the first in SA’s telecommunications sector and comes shortly after the enforcement of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), giving South African businesses of all sizes access to the tools they need to prove cybersecurity compliance, while measuring and changing risky security behaviours.

For more information, please email cybsafe@vodacom.co.za