CIPC DATA Breach – what do I do?

Commission (CIPC) has suffered an immense data breach.

The recent breach has exposed millions of South African companies to fraud and identity theft risks.

As all South African businesses need to make use of CIPC’s services for Business Registrations and Renewals, the ramifications of the breach is that the threat actors now have Directors ID / Passport copies, Home Addresses, Business Addresses and in some cases, Banking Details.

With this information, the threat actors can make fraudulent purchases on the business behalf such as procuring IT equipment, entering into property agreements, etc. and businesses may start receiving bills and invoices for services it did not legitimately procure.

Securikor highly suggests that all clients take the following steps:

• Change all CIPC passwords and Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for CIPC (CIPC should ask you to verify yourself first)
• Enable 2FA on ALL accounts and make use of a reputable password manager
• Monitor all banking transactions for fraud for the next 6 – 12 months (Please note scammers can ask you to verify bank details too. Never give your CVV details out. Always be vigilant.)
• Publish a disclaimer on their email and websites with an updated procurement policy

For all Securikor MSA (Managed Services Agreement) clients, we will now provide the 2FA and Secure Password services at no additional cost.

Additionally, Securikor will advise on procurement policy disclaimers to assist our clients in mitigating any fraudulent invoicing they may receive. – Securikor is engaging with our legal team on this. Further information will be relayed to our clients pending the outcome ASAP.

As a precaution, Securikor will now be migrating all services to make use of hardware-based authentication encryption keys in conjunction with our current Two-Factor (2FA) and Secure Password systems.

Your Safety, Security, Business Continuity and Peace of Mind is of utmost importance to us at Securikor!

Please reach out if you have any queries or concerns and the Securikor team will be happy to directly assist!

Stay safe, Stay Informed.