E-SECU~1.QXD

This report examines international and national approaches to combating cybercrime, with a specific focus on South Africa's legislative efforts, including the Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill, and the challenges faced by law enforcement and the judiciary in addressing electronic crime.

• A survey by McConnell International found that most countries rely on 'terrestrial' laws to address cybercrime, which were created before the existence of cyberspace, leading to a lack of legal protection and an over-reliance on technical self-defence.
• The European Convention on Cybercrime aims to harmonise domestic criminal laws, provide procedural powers for prosecution, and establish a fast regime for international co-operation to prevent criminals from shifting abuses to states with lower standards.
• South Africa's Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill seeks to create legal certainty for electronic transactions, protect consumers, prevent the abuse of information systems, and establish the .za domain name authority (zaDNA).
• The Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill proposes the creation of 'cyberinspectors' who would have the authority, via warrants, to monitor information systems, search premises, and seize evidence related to cybercrime investigations.
• Under the proposed bill, unauthorized access to or interference with data is a criminal offence, with aggravated offences including the intent to deny legitimate users access to an information system; penalties range from fines to five years imprisonment for aggravated offences.
• Business Against Crime (BAC) reports significant challenges in South Africa's commercial crime landscape, noting that 75% of crimes are committed by employees and conviction rates are lower than 10 in 100 reported cases.
• The South African Police Service (SAPS) faces difficulties in retaining skilled personnel for combating computer crime due to more attractive compensation packages offered by the private sector.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). E-SECU~1.QXD. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/MISSIONCHAP4.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. E-SECU~1.QXD. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/MISSIONCHAP4.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=E-SECU~1.QXD |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/MISSIONCHAP4.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndesecu1qxd, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{E-SECU\textasciitilde{}1.QXD}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/MISSIONCHAP4.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }