BLOEMFONTEIN – South African businesses need to reconsider how they approach cybersecurity as artificial intelligence makes cybercrime increasingly accessible, convincing and difficult to detect.
This is according to Bloemfontein-based cybersecurity company Tanosec cybersecurity engineer Lawrence Lackey.
His warning follows Interpol’s African Cyber Threat Assessment Report 2026, released in August, which found that artificial intelligence was involved in 55% of cybercrime cases covered by its member-country survey.
ALSO READ: South Africa overwhelmingly targeted by international cybercriminals, Interpol warns.
The report also revealed that reported financial losses increased from US$192 million in 2024 to US$484 million in 2025, while identifying Southern Africa as particularly exposed due to its advanced digital infrastructure and connectivity.
According to Lackey, these findings should encourage South African businesses, particularly SMEs, to look beyond traditional security measures and assess how effectively they’re protecting their systems, employees and financial operations.
AI is changing how cyber criminals operate
Lackey believes the most significant development is the ability of criminals to carry out familiar attacks more efficiently.
“AI isn’t necessarily making cybercriminals smarter. It’s making them faster, cheaper and a lot more convincing,” says Lackey.
“Phishing emails are becoming harder to distinguish from legitimate correspondence, and impersonating a colleague, supplier or company executive has become considerably easier.”
IT Support and Cybersecurity Are Not the Same Thing
Tanosec highlights a common misconception among South African businesses: that having an IT service provider, antivirus software and a firewall automatically means their organisation is secure.
“Good IT support is absolutely essential, but keeping systems running and independently testing their security are two different things,” Lackey explains.
“A business can have excellent IT support and still have vulnerabilities nobody has identified. The question businesses should be asking isn’t simply whether they have security measures in place, but whether those measures have ever been properly tested.”
Practical security measures for South African SMEs
Tanosec recommends businesses prioritise independent vulnerability assessments, stronger account protection, verification procedures for financial transactions, employee awareness training and incident response preparation.
“Some of the most effective security improvements are surprisingly straightforward,” says Lackey.
“Requiring someone to verify a banking detail change using a trusted telephone number might prevent a significant financial loss. Making sure former employees no longer have access to company systems costs very little.”
“The technology matters, but so do the people and processes behind it.”
A more proactive approach
Interpol’s findings also highlight capability gaps in law enforcement readiness to deal with increasingly sophisticated AI-enabled cybercrime.
See Interpol’s full report here.
For businesses, Tanosec believes this reinforces the importance of prevention and preparation.
“South African businesses don’t necessarily need more technology. They need a clearer understanding of their risks, confidence that their existing defenses work, and people who know how to respond when something doesn’t look right,” Lackey concludes.
“The attackers are adapting. Our approach to security needs to adapt with them.”
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