Understanding the threat of cybercrime: A comparative study of cybercrime and the ICT legislative frameworks of South Africa, Kenya, India, the United States and the United Kingdom’

As broadband infrastructure investments in developing nations intensify and barriers to accessing the internet diminish, the more they increasingly become the quintessential destination for cybercrime. For their lax cyber laws and general cybercrime illiteracy, developing nations such as South Africa, Kenya, and India have become the destination of choice for cybercriminal enterprises. The focus of this dissertation is to comparatively analyse South Africa’s ICT regulatory framework against those of developing and developed nations and to determine its effectiveness in addressing the threat posed by cybercrime. This dissertation hopes to contribute towards establishing a greater understanding and appreciation of the scourge of cybercrime by studying the frameworks, structures, and arrangements, installed to safeguard against the threat of cybercrime in both developing nations, namely Kenya and India, and developed nations, namely the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Some of the key challenges identified in the dissertation, arising from the analysis of South Africa’s cyber laws and policy framework, point to legislation that is out of date and in desperate need of revision, a lack of definitional clarity for cybercrime related terminology, jurisdiction limitations to investigate international cybercrimes, no harmonisation with international laws, standards, and a poor record of implementing strategy and policies. The dissertation concludes that the battle against cybercrime cannot be won without first understanding what cybercrime is. Developing a common understanding of cybercrime and related terminology, and recommends the revision of the necessary ICT strategies, policies, and regulatory frameworks. Concluding international cooperation and mutual assistance agreements to assist with transnational cybercrime investigations and prosecutions is paramount. Establishing cross-sector, intra-ministerial, public-private, and multinational partnerships is also vital to managing the threat of cybecrime. Lastly, this dissertation recommends the development of dedicated cybersecurity and cybercrime mechanisms for the prosecution and safeguarding of the nation’s critical information infrastructure, the mission critical information of corporates and the personal information of citizens against cybercrime.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Commercial Law

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Gumbi, Dumisani

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ncube, Caroline

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29247

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/29247