ICASA To Hold Public Hearings On Cyber Security On January 17 & 18

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has reportedly announced that it will conduct public hearings later this month to determine what its role and responsibilities should be in the regulation of cybersecurity, reported MyBroadband.

In an official statement released on Thursday, ICASA revealed that the hearings will be conducted on January 17 and 18 at its new offices in Centurion, Pretoria. The public hearing follows the publication of a discussion document on the matter, and 13 subsequent submissions from interested stakeholders, six of which indicated their willingness to make oral representations.

Last year, the communications watchdog published a Government Gazette containing a discussion document to solicit written submissions in respect of its role and responsibilities in the regulation of cybersecurity.

The discussion document in question examines the role played by various ICT regulators in the governance of cybersecurity in different countries. The aim is to compare the role those regulators are playing in the cyber security sector and determine if ICASA should adopt similar approaches to deal with cybersecurity, taking into account its mandate. The discussion document was prompted by significant growth of cyber-attack incidents in the country.

“The publication of the discussion document was perpetuated by the proliferation of Internet interconnections and increased data services that have led to significant growth of cyber attack incidents often with disastrous consequences,” ICASA noted in the statement.

Media Monitoring Africa, Research ICT Africa, the South African Communications Forum, MTN, Cell C and Vodacom are among the companies and organizations that are expected to be present at the public hearings.