An Information Operations Roadmap for South Africa
ABSTRACT
The latest arms race can be considered to be information-based, revolving around Information Operations (IO). As with any developing concept, there are innovators, early adopters, and laggards. However, complexities in the constructs of IO result in a number of potential adopters struggling to implement their own brand of IO. A modified Capability Maturity Model is proposed and applied to the case of South Africa. Using guidance from previous studies and publicly available documentation, capability gaps for IO in South Africa are identified. Based on these gaps, a roadmap for developing IO capacity in South Africa is proposed.
AUTHORS
University of KwaZulu-Natal Durban,
South Africa
Dr. Brett van Niekerk is currently a senior lecturer in computer science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and previously was a senior information security analyst at Transnet. He has 10 years’ experience in information security, cybersecurity and information operations spanning academia, industry, and civil society. He serves as secretary for the International Federation of Information Processing, Working Group 9.10 on ICT in Peace and War, is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Cyber Warfare and Terrorism, Associate Editor for the International Journal of Information Security and Privacy, on the international advisory board for the Journal of Information Warfare, and serves as a reviewer for multiple other international and local journal and conferences such as the International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security and the European Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security. He previously served as ISACA South Africa’s Academic Relations Coordinator (2016-2018) and a contributor to the SABS Working Group for ISO/IEC 27000-series standards. In 2012, he graduated with his PhD and has subsequently completed two years of postdoctoral research into information warfare and critical infrastructure protection. He is an NRF-rated researcher, has made over 30 presentations at local and international conferences, and has published ten book chapters and over 20 journal articles. He is a Certified Information Security Manager, achieving the third highest score in South Africa in the December 2014 exam period. In 2018, he was awarded ISACA South Africa’s Contribution Award for his work in information security and cybersecurity.
Published In
Journal of Information Warfare
The definitive publication for the best and latest research and analysis on information warfare, information operations, and cyber crime. Available in traditional hard copy or online.
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