Author: Anna Collard
The digital revolution is transforming African education, with universities embracing online learning and digital systems. However, this progress brings a crucial challenge: cybersecurity. Are African higher education institutions (HEIs) prepared for the escalating cyber threats? The Growing Threat Landscape African HEIs are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals. Microsoft’s Cyber Signals report highlights education as the third most targeted sector globally (https://apo-opa.co/3F1gJ3H), with Africa being a particularly vulnerable region. Incidents like the theft of sensitive data (https://apo-opa.co/43gPqu5) at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and the hacking of a master’s degree platform (https://apo-opa.co/45gqo0N) at Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Morocco demonstrate the reality of these threats.…
Last weekend, at a typical South African braai (barbeque), I found myself in a heated conversation with someone highly educated—yet passionately defending a piece of Russian propaganda that had already been widely debunked. It was unsettling. The conversation quickly became irrational, emotional, and very uncomfortable. That moment crystallised something for me: we’re no longer just approaching an era where truth is under threat—we’re already living in it. A reality where falsity feels familiar, and information is weaponised to polarize societies and manipulate our belief systems. And now, with the democratisation of AI tools like deepfakes, anyone with enough intent can…
Anyone who uses banking and financial services, social media, mobile apps or has retail accounts has shared their personal information far and wide across digital systems. Preventing identity theft and protecting yourself against scams has become more difficult in this new environment. It is virtually impossible to avoid having personal data circulating in the digital realm. Social media and messaging platforms, web browsers and mobile apps already have access to vast amounts of data about each user. You can choose not to use social media or digital tools to avoid this, but it is not very practical to do so,…
