Кибератаки в ЮАР обесценили ВВП страны на 1,81%

South Africa’s costly data breaches are potentially knocking at least 1,81% off its annual GDP, representing a series of avoidable own-goals. That’s according to Cube ICT Solutions, which notes the average cost of a data breach is R44-million in South Africa, according to the IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025. The 3 219 data breaches reported to the Information Regulator in 2025/2026 then represent an astonishing cost to the economy of R141,96-billion, or equivalent to 1,81% of the value of our annual GDP, most recently estimated at R7,86-trillion by Stats SA. “Thinking that paying a cybersecurity firm to fix a data breach creates income for that firm is false logic. Resources spent on remedying breaches are costs, not wealth-creating economic activity,” says Adriaan Venter, CEO of Cube ICT Solutions. “The result is the economy is potentially smaller than it would have been if finite resources used to remedy breaches had been used elsewhere, perhaps to purchase wealth-creating capital equipment.” Beyond the immediate costs associated with fixing systems, hiring experts and paying restitution; data breaches lead to long-term issues like reputational damage and customer churn, which further hamper growth. “South Africa’s overall economic efficiency and potential is being limited by the 268 breaches that take place every month because someone left a database unsecured, sent an email in error or lost their work device,” says Venter. There is hope, however. With the lion’s share of data breaches caused by human error, employee training directly tackles the root cause rather than just the symptoms. “With basic information security awareness training, South Africa can significantly reduce risk over a relatively short time. Millions of corporate employees can transform themselves into an effective, national ‘human firewall’ capable of recognising and reporting cyber threats, as well as conducting themselves in ways that reduce the potential for data-centred accidents,” says Venter. “Educating employees on cybersecurity basics is a critical first step in preventing data breaches. Get that right and South Africa’s economy will reap the benefits.” Finally, while there is little individual consumers can do to remedy the breaches that cost the national accounts so much, they can indeed keep an eye on their own financial data. For example, activate online banking options that enable the monitoring of bank accounts in real-time. Also update passwords and other security measures whenever legitimately advised by the organisations with which you transact.