CAPE TOWN – The Western Cape is gearing up for what appears to be yet another record-setting festive season in 2024 as more domestic and international visitors flock to the province to enjoy its beautiful beaches, wine farms and nature reserves. Vodacom Western Cape region has implemented significant network upgrades to meet the rising traffic demands, ensuring that visitors to the province remain connected during the busy festive season.

“We have pledged to invest R350 million this financial year to enhance the quality, capacity, and reach of our broadband network infrastructure across the Western Cape. As we approach the busy festive season, we are confident that our improvements will help us manage congestion and keep our customers connected even in busy tourist hotspots,” said Carol Hall, Managing Executive, Vodacom Western Cape region.

To maximise network reliability during the festive period, Vodacom Western Cape has ensured that their network maintenance operations will be fully operational throughout the season, focusing resources on areas surrounding holiday hotspots. The network capacity has been significantly improved, with 5G added to 50 towers and additional 4G capacity added to 384 towers. These upgrades are supported by the deployment of six temporary base stations for holiday hotspots and ten new permanent base stations across the province. With continued focus on improving network reliability,119 towers received battery upgrades, 37 towers received power infrastructure upgrades and 29 new standby generators were installed at key network facilities.

Vandalism at base stations and battery theft remains a major problem for the local telco industry as the criminal activity causes disruptions to network services, resulting in frequent downtime for customers. Vodacom has adopted a comprehensive approach to managing this.

“Unfortunately, theft and vandalism continue to challenge our goal of providing exceptional connectivity. We are actively seeking ways to minimize downtime due to power outages and have adopted a multi-layered approach to managing energy-related challenges,” said Hall. “By upgrading our infrastructure and investing in high-end site security to mitigate theft of batteries and generators, we are excited to offer our customers superior connectivity wherever they travel. Tourism, both local and international, is a key economic contributor. We aim to provide our users with peace of mind and a world-class network experience as they explore everything our beautiful province has to offer.”

The technology industry is in a continuous state of change driven by evolving consumer expectations and pressing global needs. As we approach 2025, Epson envisions a world where technology advances rapidly while prioritising eco-friendly design, thoughtful use of AI and automation, and innovations in visual and printing solutions.

Our mission is to enrich lives and contribute to a sustainable future through innovative solutions that balance environmental protection with technological progress. For years, we have dedicated ourselves to understanding and meeting the needs of customers, designing products that align with these values. Here are three key trends we anticipate shaping the technology landscape in 2025.

The shift towards sustainable products

Sustainability has become more than a trend – it is a necessity. As the environmental challenges intensify, consumers and governments alike are advocating for more sustainable solutions. We recognise that the responsibility to address these issues rests with companies like ours, and we are committed to leading with innovations that respect our planet. By 2025, we expect a significant portion of technology offerings will prioritise sustainability, focusing on energy efficiency, resource conservation, waste reduction and recycling.

An excellent example of our commitment to sustainability is our EcoTank printer line, designed with refillable ink tanks rather than traditional cartridges. This innovation allows users to refill the tanks with ink bottles, significantly reducing waste cutting costs by up to 90%. The EcoTank solution has prevented millions of pounds of plastic from entering landfills each year, offering an environmentally sustainable and cost-effective choice for our customers.

Integration of AI and automation

AI and automation are transforming industries, and by 2025, we’ll see even deeper integration of these technologies across various sectors, from manufacturing to consumer goods. Beyond simply streamlining tasks, AI and automation can reshape industries by enhancing customer experiences, increasing efficiency, and raising service standards.

With these changes comes the need for new skillsets. Ad industries adopt AI-driven solutions, upskilling the workforce will be essential to ensure employees are prepared to work alongside these technologies effectively.

Evolution of printing and visual technologies

Personalisation and quality have become pillars of consumer expectations, especially in printing and visual displays. People increasingly seek tailored solutions, driving growth in personalised printing and custom visual technology. Whether it’s a unique home theatre set-up or a business requiring more engaging visuals, demand for high-quality, personalised technology is growing.

At Epson, we believe the printing industry will witness remarkable advancements by 2025, from higher-quality prints and a wider range of printable materials to more accessible 3D printing. Visual technologies will also improve significantly, with more efficient projectors delivering brighter, more colour-accurate images, even extending to 3D applications in VR environments. These developments will empower consumers to explore high-end printing and visual technology for personal projects and enable businesses to meet customer demand for faster, higher-quality, and customisable services.

A look ahead

The technology industry is at a turning point where sustainability, intelligent automation, and visual innovation intersect. By 2025, we envision a marketplace that is both dynamic and responsive to shifting consumer needs and environmental challenges.

For technology to reach its full potential, stakeholders across the sector must engage with these trends, prioritising inclusivity, and responsibility. At Epson, we believe that a forward-looking approach – grounded in our commitment to craft, care, creativity, and sustainability – is essential for building a future where technology benefits everyone.

Neil Colquhoun is the President of Epson META-CW Asia.

Cybercriminals can strike at any time. When you take some time off during December and January, how do you ensure your business remains cyber-safe?

During major holiday periods, ransomware attacks jump a whopping 30%. Holidays also experience increased online scams, exploiting themes such as gift sales, package deliveries, and charity drives. Seeing that people generally open 70% of phishing emails, holidays significantly increase cybercrime risks, and many target distracted staff or security skeleton teams.

“Even routine holiday notices are security risks,” says Gerhard Swart, Chief Technology Officer at cyber security company, Performanta. “Criminals use things like out-of-office replies to pick their targets. For example, they might send an urgent message to someone who is on leave, urging immediate action for some kind of crisis and catching their target in a distracted mindset. They could also pretend to be that person and manipulate someone at the office, and nobody might notice until that person returns from holiday.”

Business email compromise and man-in-the-middle attacks are good examples of such tactics. Once criminals identify that someone is not at work, they have more opportunities to create fake emails that extract and divert payments from unsuspecting employees and customers. They might also launch attacks while fewer people are handling security duties.

“There’s no good time for a cyberattack, but there is a worse time, such as when half your key security people are on holiday,” says Swart.

Securing Your Business During The Holidays

 Knowing your business is more vulnerable during holidays is an opportunity to address the situation beforehand. Some best practices include:

• Work with a detect-and-remediate service provider: Managed security service providers (MSSPs) operate 24/7 detection and remediation services. They use ongoing monitoring to spot anomalies and unusual behaviours across your technology estate, and are able to act immediately to deter attacks and remove attackers.
• Update and test systems: Holiday periods reduce activity on business systems, providing a window to test and update systems. This strategy aligns well with using agnostic attack surface management (ASM) services to audit systems’ security and patch statuses and develop appropriate update plans.
• Ready an emergency response plan: Establish response plans specific to holidays, taking into account staff leave. If your CISO is abroad on holiday, make sure there is someone at the office who can handle those calls. Even if key personnel must return to the office, you don’t lose precious time waiting for them to arrive.
• Limit access: Liaise with departments such as human resources to see who is on leave and limit access accordingly. Create policies and procedures in case someone needs remote access in an emergency.
• Train staff for phishing and scams: Holidays lead to a spike in phishing attacks because they can exploit people’s distraction. Train your staff on these dangers for business reasons and to help safeguard their personal activities during the holidays.
• Prepare for supply chain attacks: Online criminals exploit the inherent trust of supply chains. Create guidance to scrutinise correspondence with partners (a hotbed for business email compromise attacks), unusual orders, and system integrations or privileged access arrangements.
• Activate Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): MFA is very effective at stopping account breaches and should be a mandatory feature for anyone logging into your business systems. Additionally, train staff to anticipate tactics such as MFA fatigue attacks (where criminals overwhelm someone with MFA requests) and tactics that target MFA credentials such as sim swapping and keyloggers.

When they take time off, people can develop “holiday brains” where they are more relaxed and less alert. Criminals stoop to exploit this and ruin it for everyone except themselves. The risk of experiencing a cyberattack is very real.

But with the right precautions, you can keep it from escalating, says Swart.

“The first step is to realise that holidays create a bigger threat of cyberattacks. Once you acknowledge this, you can take action. Start by talking to your security provider. They have the know-how and procedures to look for those risks and reduce them. As always, awareness and action are the two steps that will ensure your company is cyber safe, even when most people are at the beach.”

Cybercrime has become a serious threat to South African consumers and businesses, with scammers leveraging the latest and most innovative methods to stake their claim on their victims’ hard-earned money.

From sim swop and banking fraud schemes to social engineering scams and even deepfake audio and video manipulations, scammers are using increasingly sophisticated methods to target their victims, says cybercrime expert, Dr Craig Pederson.

“These tactics not only impact individual consumers but also put significant strain on companies trying to protect sensitive information,” he says. “In the last seven years, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in both the volume of cybercrimes and the variety of types of cybercrime perpetrated in South Africa. In fact, South Africa is very close to being considered the cybercrime capital of the world.”

Tech-driven scams on the rise

Scammers are taking advantage of digital platforms and weaknesses in personal security to gather sensitive information quickly. “It would probably take me between five and ten minutes to gain access to a significant amount of your personal information, more than you would be comfortable with,” Pederson reveals.

Margaret*, a teacher who despite educating children on online safety, fell victim to phishing and fake website scams twice. This is a common tactic that involves luring users to seemingly legitimate websites that are, in fact, fraudulent. Victims who fall for these sites often enter personal and banking details, which scammers can then use for identity theft or unauthorised transactions. “I felt like an absolute idiot,” she admits. “I was angry with myself because I know this stuff, and it still happened to me.”

SIM swopping and phone theft is another common scam that involves fraudsters duplicating a person’s SIM card or stealing their phone to gain access to sensitive accounts. Once they have the device, they bypass banking apps’ security by accessing One-Time Pins (OTPs) or verification codes, which was likely the technique used in Shashi Naidoo’s case that saw her lose over R500,000 after her phone was recently snatched.

Employees are also increasingly targeted by scammers who use a variety of methods in attempt to manipulate them into revealing sensitive information, granting unauthorised access, or making payments to fake accounts. For instance, many businesses have reported scammers impersonating legitimate vendors that the company regularly deals with, submitting fake invoices or altering banking details on actual invoices. This often results in funds being transferred into scam accounts.

While rare, impersonation via Deepfake Technology is also becoming a common and more sophisticated scam tactic that businesses should be especially aware of. This involves scammers using deepfake audio or video technology to mimic, for example, a CEO or other leader’s voice, convincing employees to act on fraudulent instructions.

While frightening, technology – with both its advantages and its risks – is here to stay and keeping informed and vigilant is crucial to avoid falling prey to scammers and their tactics.

Steps to staying safe

• To fight back against cybercriminals, Pederson suggests ensuring two-factor authentication (2FA) is used for all social media and messaging apps like WhatsApp, which provides an added layer of security that is crucial to prevent unauthorised access.
• Strong, unique passwords are essential to digital security. Pederson recommends changing passwords every six months and using a password manager to keep track securely.
• When it comes to spotting red flags, this can be tricky, but most scams will have warning signs. For instance, fake websites may crash or have inconsistencies and paying attention to these details can prevent potential losses and heartaches in the future.
• Finally, it’s important to stay informed about emerging scams. Education and awareness are the best defences against cybercrime. “Ultimately, we’ve got to evolve with the risks associated with technology, and knowledge remains your best defence,” says Pederson.

Watch Momentum Insure’s Circle of Safety   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkZeQnSr1yY9VWJoZqsDTl8rWq1uHhWkA series for more insights from experts and scammers themselves to stay informed of the latest scams and stay safe from cybercriminals.

*Pseudonym used.

*Source: Crimepsych + Idefense

Recently, the Johannesburg High Court dismissed a personal injury case against an institution, finding no evidence of negligence or wrongdoing on its part. In recent years, South Africa has witnessed a growing trend of litigation, with an increasing number of lawsuits being filed—even in cases where the objective facts do not justify legal action. This case serves as a timely reminder that prospective litigants and their legal representatives must approach court proceedings with care and realism. Not every injury occurring on someone’s premises will result in compensation. Below is a synopsis of the case, the court’s ruling, and its reasoning.

Synopsis

The plaintiff tripped and fell over a piece of metal skirting, sustaining injuries while walking inside the defendant’s premises. As a result, the plaintiff instituted a delictual claim against the defendant, alleging that the defendant breached its duty of care towards herself and other customers. Specifically, the plaintiff claimed that the defendant was negligent in failing to ensure the metal skirting was securely affixed to the wall, not maintaining safe walkways for customers, failing to place warning signs, and other related failures.

The defendant denied any negligence and, in the alternative, argued that the plaintiff was contributorily negligent. The defendant maintained that the metal skirting was properly affixed to the wall, eliminating the need for warning signs, and that the walkways were safe for public use, at all times. Furthermore, the defendant contended that its obligation was not to make the area absolutely safe, but to ensure it was reasonably safe for public use, and that customers, including the plaintiff, were expected to exercise reasonable care for their own safety.

Evidence

In addition to disputing negligence and denying liability in delict, the defendant relied on a disclaimer, video footage, and witness testimony, including that of the plaintiff and the site manager subcontracted by the defendant at the time.

Regarding negligence, the court held that there was no evidence to show the metal skirting had been loose prior to the incident. It stated that concluding the skirting was dislodged before the incident would amount to speculation without proof.

As for the disclaimer, the defendant argued that it was prominently displayed in visible locations, using suitable colors and font. Although the plaintiff testified that she did not see the disclaimers, she admitted to being aware of their existence and understanding their purpose and implications. The court held that the plaintiff, by her own testimony, demonstrated that she had “actual” or “quasi-mutual” consent to the disclaimer, as she had adequate opportunity to read it.

The site manager testified that immediately after the incident, he inspected the scene and found no loose metal skirting. He further stated that he was familiar with the area, conducted daily inspections of the premises before opening to the public, and had carried out an inspection on the day of the incident, finding nothing out of place. While he conceded that he did not witness the incident firsthand and was informed of it via radio, he promptly attended the scene. The court found the site manager to be a credible witness, and his testimony regarding the inspection was not contradicted.

Regarding the video footage, it showed the plaintiff “cutting corner and moving closure (sic) to the edge of the skirting as if distracted.” The court was of the view that the plaintiff did not act reasonably in doing so.

Conclusion

The court dismissed the plaintiff’s case with costs. This judgment is an important reminder of the need to scrutinise the facts and evidence before proceeding with legal action. It should also deter opportunistic litigation. Lastly, the judgment is also a victory for public liability insurers who constantly have to fight against legal claims that lack merits.