Abstract
Recent pandemic challenges brought on by Covid-19 have forced several organisations to adopt remote working. As a result, information security and cybersecurity have risen to the top of organisations' concerns. The study analysed information technology (IT) risks affecting the South African government sector emanating from remote working. The study looked at the dangers of remote working and various IT risks such as employee behaviour, infrastructure limits, data privacy concerns and cybersecurity threats.
In order to mitigate the IT risks associated with remote working, the research examined the particular context of South Africa in order to offer helpful insights and suggestions. This will assist government organisations in establishing strong security measures and ensuring the efficient management of remote working arrangements.
A comprehensive literature study was conducted on IT risks and it was established whether adequate measures have been implemented to mitigate those IT risks. In areas where control weaknesses have been identified, it must be ensured that internal controls are enforced to mitigate IT risks within a tolerable level. This study was accomplished through qualitative methods, namely content analysis. Content analysis was used in the study to create an empirical analysis of the four integrated South African government employers’ reports.
The population of this study was limited to the South African government employers that deal with personal information and may be vulnerable to IT risks, the sample included South African Revenue Service, Department of Home Affairs, Road Accident Fund and Department of Public Works. The revealed IT risks were the primary subject of the content analysis. Further research in the area is needed for a more complete understanding of IT risks in the public sector and the results of this study may be expanded.
The study discovered that the sampled organisations had procedures in place to detect potential risks and threats in order to get quick, reliable and high-quality
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information on IT risks. The findings also showed that the sampled South African government employers regularly assess their internal control systems for IT risks to make sure they are up to date and to identify any new IT risks. The integrated reports revealed that organisations had measures against and for detecting data security risks in place for remote access. Additionally, there were organisations that were exposed to IT risks that were not mentioned among the top IT risks for the study and most of the top IT risks were not experienced by the sampled South African government employers.
Key words
IT,
Remote working,
Risk management,
Risk management of IT,
Cybersecurity,
Cyber risks