Digital fraud and brand hijacking are serious and growing threats to companies in South Africa and abroad. Over the past three years, incidents have increased with the grand-scale eruption of online social networking and e-commerce.
The evolving digital landscape is fertile ground for cyber criminals who siphon millions of rands from unsuspecting brands and people every year. Estimates are that cyber crime costs the world about $6 trillion annually. The real toll is likely much higher because most exploits go unnoticed or unreported.
“A brand’s reputation is often shaped by its digital footprint, which is not easily controlled. It extends from e-commerce shops and social media to blogs, forums and direct messaging platforms that serve as customer-facing fronts through which consumers engage with and do business with brands.
“Conversations and transactions are happening in a dynamic and multi-directional environment where online reputation is influenced by third parties. When these are not monitored and there is no active engagement by brands in these transactions and discussions, it is impossible to control them,” says Charl Ueckermann, Group CEO at AVeS Cyber Security International.
According to Ueckermann, AVeS has worked with several companies to recover hijacked digital brands and restore lost data. For one business, an insurance company, the ripple effects are still being felt two years after a loan scam effected via WhatsApp and Facebook cost millions…
