Pretoria - With South Africa’s cybercrime attacks on the rise, government is set to collaborate with France in order to boost the cyber and digital skills capacities which are key in investigating such crimes.
The two countries will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will result in the capacity building of 350 forensic investigators being trained in cyber forensic investigations with the support of a French International Technical expert regional advisor on cybercrime.
The MoU will be signed on Wednesday by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the French Embassy, together with the Public Service Sector Education and Training Authority (PSETA) in Pretoria.
The first training of the forensic investigators is scheduled in September.
“As cybercrime has no boundaries, this MoU highlights the critical role of international cooperation (exchange of best practices and knowledge) to address the world digital revolution,” the SIU said on Tuesday.
In 2016, it was estimated that 8.8 million South Africans were hit by cybercrime.
According to the investigating unit, South Africa currently ranks as having the world’s third highest cybercrime attacks losing in excess of R2.2 billion to internet fraud and phishing attacks annually.
The SIU attributes the high attack to the growth in online services which the criminals use to increase the scale of corruption. –SAnews.gov.za
