Positioning South Africa in the BRICS Cybersecurity Context: A Strategic Perspective

摘要

A number of reports in the last two years revealed that the BRICS economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) were found to be amongst the largest victims of cybercrime. The recent BRICS summit, held in Xiamen, China, had as one of the main themes of global security, including cybersecurity. Consequently, The BRICS leaders called for a coordinated strategic action in these areas, driven by the requirements and priorities. However, the South African cybersecurity strategic position within the BRICS block appears to be unclear thus far. Hence, this study was aimed at producing a positioning paper that clarifies the South African strategic contribution with a view to leveraging possible benefits from the BRICS cybersecurity cooperation. This research was undertaken through a review and analyses of available documents and publications on the topic. The findings confirm that, despite some challenges, South Africa do strategically contribute to and can potentially benefit from the block's cybersecurity agenda.