As Africa experiences a rapid digital transformation, countries on the continent grapple with digital security issues, and governments double down on efforts to protect various platforms that may be subject to cybercriminal attacks.

South Africa's Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJCD) has been fined 5 million rands ($268,000) by the Information Regulator (IR), according to the South African government's official press agency.

The fine was levied following the DOJCD's non-compliance with the Personal Information Protection Act (POPIA) and a previous antivirus software license renewal order issued by the regulator.

"The enforcement notice required [the department] to provide proof within 31 days of receipt of the notice that the Trend antivirus license, the SIEM [Security Information and Event Management] license, and the intrusion detection system license had been renewed," said the regulatory body.

The notice sent to the department specified that if it failed to comply with this requirement by June 9, 2023, it could face a fine of up to 10 million rand.

As the Department of Justice failed to comply, "[...] the regulatory body concluded that it did not comply with the enforcement notice served on it under POPIA. As a result, the regulatory authority fined the department an administrative penalty of 5 million rand for non-compliance with the enforcement notice," added the regulator.

In September 2021, the ministry suffered a major ransomware attack. Documents containing personal information were compromised and many files were lost. This attack disrupted courts’ operations and all electronic services provided by the ministry for several months.

Since then, the country's authorities have undertaken to secure the ministry's digital infrastructure.

Samira Njoya