WARNING: You will get jail time or fined if you send these sorts of messages on WhatsApp
President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the Cybercrimes Bill into Law, which means that we are in line with the rest of the world when it comes to cybersecurity laws.
Our knowledge of Cybercrimes is pretty minimal as a country. With more focus placed on the general (if that's what we can call it) crime, we tend not to pay as much attention to the criminals that are both tech-savvy and extremely innovative when it comes to tech and crime.
With the number of scams that circulate on a daily basis, we are surprised that we are even still using devices at all. So when it comes to the Cybercrimes bill being passed, we are a bit on the fence about how we feel about it all.
According to Business Tech, the bill, which is now an act of parliament, creates offences for and criminalises, amongst others, the disclosure of data messages which are harmful, says Ahmore Burger-Smidt, director and head of Data Privacy Practice at Werksmans Attorneys.
Messages that could bring out some red flags are those that incite violence or damage property, any message that threatens persons with violence or damage to property, and messages that contain intimate images sent without the subject’s consent.
A person who is convicted under the Cybercrimes Act can spend up to fifteen years in prison and may be liable to a fine or both depending on the offence.
The effects on businesses mean that they need to be able to make sure that customers' information is protected and secured.
“One of the conditions for lawful processing in terms of Popia is security safeguards which prescribes that the integrity and confidentiality of personal information must be secured by a person in control of that information,” she said. (Business Tech)
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