How South African SMEs address cyber security: The case of web server logs and intrusion detection
Cameron Kent, Maureen Tanner, Salah K. Kabanda · 2016
Small and Medium Enterprises are recently engaging in the adoption and use of IT systems to not only participate in the global economy but to also become efficient in their service provision. Unfortunately the downfall has been the increasing threats that accompany IT system use, specifically cyber security concerns. Although these concerns have been documented, cyber security remains a mystery, and this is more so for developing countries which tend to be sidelined from the main stream in the cyber security research domain. This study is a contribution towards filling this gap; as it strives to examine the cyber security phenomenon from the perspective of South African SMEs. The purpose is to investigate the factors that influence SMEs cyber security implementations. Following a qualitative approach and interviews as a means of data collection; the findings show that organization readiness determined the type of cyber security measures implemented within an SME. There was a strong indication that both web server logging and intrusion detection were not as useful methods for addressing cyber security. SMEs acknowledged that they lacked the relevant skills and financial means to address cyber security concerns.