Digital Security

In the home of the South African Cyber Security Academic Alliance (SACSAA).  We are an alliance of academic research groups from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and the University of South Africa (UNISA). This is our platform for communicating with you (the public) about current cyber security issues, knowledge and practices. We offer free education about cyber security and safety knowledge and practices.

Why are we doing this?

The world has become progressively more information-oriented. The information and communication technologies, the Internet and the World Wide Web are part of everyone’s daily life. Whether we realize it or not cyberspace, these technologies and services, are integrated into our daily professional, educational and personal activities. It serves as an enabler, allowing us as individuals/entities to interact, exchange ideas, share information, provide social support, conduct business, direct actions, create artistic media, play games, engage in discussion etc.

 The cyber world and the real world have merged to become our reality. This integration of cyberspace into our world has resulted in a number of benefits for us as users. However it has also resulted in us being exposed to a number of cyber threats and risks.

As individuals we are exposed to cyber threats targeting our finances, identity, privacy and personal physical and psychological safety. Additionally as communities and countries we face threats against our critical infrastructure and economy. Interaction with cyberspace is critical for us in our way of life. Therefore as users (and cyber citizens) we need to know how to make reap the benefits of cyberspace, while managing the risks and keeping our selves cyber-safe, and cyber-secure. to the home of the South African Cyber Security Academic Alliance (SACSAA).  We are an alliance of academic research groups from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and the University of South Africa (UNISA). This is our platform for communicating with you (the public) about current cyber security issues, knowledge and practices. We offer free education about cyber security and safety knowledge and practices.

Why are we doing this?

The world has become progressively more information-oriented. The information and communication technologies, the Internet and the World Wide Web are part of everyone’s daily life. Whether we realize it or not cyberspace, these technologies and services, are integrated into our daily professional, educational and personal activities. It serves as an enabler, allowing us as individuals/entities to interact, exchange ideas, share information, provide social support, conduct business, direct actions, create artistic media, play games, engage in discussion etc.

 The cyber world and the real world have merged to become our reality. This integration of cyberspace into our world has resulted in a number of benefits for us as users. However it has also resulted in us being exposed to a number of cyber threats and risks.

As individuals we are exposed to cyber threats targeting our finances, identity, privacy and personal physical and psychological safety. Additionally as communities and countries we face threats against our critical infrastructure and economy. Interaction with cyberspace is critical for us in our way of life. Therefore as users (and cyber citizens) we need to know how to make reap the benefits of cyberspace, while managing the risks and keeping our selves cyber-safe, and cyber-secure.

Digital Rights and Responsibilities

Digital Code of Conduct

Digital Code of Conduct

·         Identify yourself:

o       Begin messages with a salutation and end them with your name.

o     Use a signature (a footer with your identifying information) at the end of a message

·         Include a subject line. Give a descriptive phrase in the subject line of the message header that tells the topic of the message (not just "Hi, there!").

·         Avoid sarcasm. People who don't know you may misinterpret its meaning.

·         Respect others' privacy. Do not quote or forward personal email without the original author's permission.

·         Acknowledge and return messages promptly.

·         Copy with caution. Don't copy everyone you know on each message.

·         No spam (a.k.a. junk mail). Don't contribute to worthless information on the Internet by sending or responding to mass postings of chain letters, rumors, etc.

·         Be concise. Keep messages concise—about one screen, as a rule of thumb.

·         Use appropriate language:

o       Avoid coarse, rough, or rude language.

o      Observe good grammar and spelling.

·         Use appropriate emoticons (emotion icons) to help convey meaning. Use "smileys" or punctuation such as :-) to convey emotions. 

·         Use appropriate intensifiers to help convey meaning.

o     Avoid "flaming" (online "screaming") or sentences typed in all caps.

o     Use asterisks surrounding words to indicate italics used for emphasis (*at last*).

o     Use words in brackets, such as (grin), to show a state of mind.    
    Use common acronyms (e.g., LOL for "laugh out loud").

The Social Economy

Social networking in South Africa has crossed the age barrier, the urban-rural divide, and even the relationship gap, according to new research findings from technology market researchers World Wide Worx and information analysts Fuse-ware.

The South African Social Media Landscape 2012 study, released this week by World Wide Worx and Fuse-ware, shows that the fastest growing age group among Facebook users in South Africa is the over- 60's.

'Reflection of Facebook going mainstream'

From August 2011 to August 2012, the number of over-60s on Facebook in South Africa grew by 44%, compared to less than 30% for those aged 30-60, less than 20% for those aged 19-30, and less than 10% for teenagers, the study found.

"This is a reflection of Facebook going mainstream in South Africa," World Wide Worx managing director Arthur Goldstuck said in a statement. "The younger segments are still far from saturation, but we're not seeing the same heady pace of growth among the youth as before."

Crossing the urban-rural divide

Both Facebook and Twitter have crossed the South African urban-rural divide, according to the study. The proportion of urban adults using Facebook is a little less than double rural users - but rural users are now at the level where urban users were 18 months ago.

Twitter's urban penetration is a little more than double its rural penetration, but the rural proportion has also caught up to where the urban proportion was 18 months ago.

Facebook, Twitter numbers

At the end of August, 5.33-million South Africans were using Facebook on the Web, 2.43-million were on Twitter and 9.35-million on Mxit.

However, because Facebook does not measure mobile-only usage among those who have registered via their cellphones, the full extent of its penetration is significantly understated: primary research by World Wide Worx shows that 6.8-million South Africans access Facebook on their phones.

South African Twitter use measured in the study indicates that its user base had grown to 2.2-million by the end of June, or 100 000 new users a month since August last year.

Fuseware data, collected directly from Twitter through an API (application programme interface), shows that the number reached 2.4-million at the end of August, exactly matching the growth rate measured by World Wide Worx, and validating the earlier data.

Single users on the increase

Another of the study's findings is that the number of single users of social networks in South Africa has grown faster than any other relationship group, by almost 25%, to reach 957 :000. The number of married and engaged users has each grown by 16%, while the category of those "in a relationship" has increased by 9%.

"Clearly, Facebook is filling a relationship gap in the lives of many South Africans," said Goldstuck. "But social networks are also so much more - we see them playing the roles of communication, information and entertainment networks."

Wronski added: "Social media fatigue has set in for the more over-active users, who follow too much, communicate too much, and vent too much. But most users are arriving in this world for the first time, and new users are going to keep coming. It's mainstream today but, tomorrow, it will be pervasive."

Other key findings

Other key findings of the study include:

• Both Facebook and Twitter have grown at a similar rate in South Africa, at around 100 000 new users a month, for the past year.
• LinkedIn has grown substantially, but at a slightly lower rate, to reach 1.93-million South Africans.
• P interest is the fledgling among the major social networks, with only 150 000 users in South Africa.
• Whats App has become the leading instant messaging tool among South Africans aged 16 and over, living in cities and towns, with a user base of 4.6-million.
• The youngest mobile instant messaging tool to emerge on the measurement radar in South Africa, 2Go, has close to a million adult users.
• The most common "check in" sites for Facebook in South Africa are airports and shopping malls.
• The biggest tweeting day of the week is a Monday, with an average of 9.6-million tweets sent by South Africans on the first working day of the week. Friday is next, with 9.6-million, while Saturday is the slowest Twitter day, with 8.4-million tweets.

Digital Literacy and Information

Professor Lee Berger has made what has been hailed as the most important archaeological discoveries in recent history—two new species of human ancestors.

In 2008—with the help of his curious nine-year-old son—Berger discovered two remarkably well-preserved, two-million-year-old fossils of an adult female and young male, which he named Australopithecus sediba. The fossils of this previously unknown species of ape-like creatures reveal what may be one of humankind’s oldest ancestors.

Then, in 2013, guided by a pair of local cavers, Berger discovered ancient fossils just outside Johannesburg, deep inside the Rising Star cave, through a passage so dangerously narrow that Berger had to recruit small cavers to access them. There, 30 meters underground, in the Cradle of Humanity World Heritage site, Berger’s team uncovered more than 1,550 fossil elements, representing an unprecedented 15 individuals in what they believe to be a burial site. He named the new species Homo naledi.

“We’ve found a most remarkable creature,” says Berger. This new species appears to have intentionally deposited the bodies of its dead in the remote chamber—a behavior previously thought to be limited to humans. This new discovery is the single largest fossil hominin find in Africa to date. It shakes up our understanding of the human family tree and has the potential to transform understanding of human evolution.

Berger, an Eagle Scout and National Geographic explorer-in-residence, is the Reader in Human Evolution and the Public Understanding of Science in the Institute for Human Evolution at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

“There’s no one on Earth finding fossils like Lee is now.”

Digital divide in South Africa

Digital divide in South Africa

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/my-drive

Techno-economic paradigms

‘Techno-Economic Paradigms’ presents a series of essays by the leading academics in the field discussing the theory of techno-economic paradigm shifts, and its role in explaining processes of innovation and development. This festschrift honours Carlota Perez, the founder of the theory 'techno-economic paradigm shifts'.