With big companies dealing with millions of items and applications on their network every month, literally every piece of information is vulnerable to attack from outside, said Maeson Maherry, general manager of NamITrust, part of the NamITech IT group.

NamITrust - which incorporates the South African Certification Authority (SACA), offers the products and solutions of VeriSign Inc, the world's largest provider of Internet trust services.

"While security attacks are becoming nastier and more damaging there is still very little in the way of legal precedent or international law that allows governments to intercede on behalf of companies. It is still very much like the Wild West on the Internet and while the lawlessness is likely to be combated, it is going to take some time before concrete steps are taken, or are in place. In the meanwhile companies are going to have to take steps to protect themselves."

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