TechCentral

MultiChoice Group has been involved in two major enforcement actions against piracy kingpins in as many weeks.

Frikkie Jonker, of MultiChoice subsidiary Irdeto, is the man leading the charge against these pirate operations, and he tells the TechCentral Show (TCS) that, despite recent arrests, the broadcaster’s war on streaming piracy is just getting started. More arrests and other enforcement actions are on the cards.

On 5 June, MultiChoice revealed it had succeeding in nailing the streaming piracy platform Waka TV in an operation that involved Western Cape police investigators. It described the dismantling of Waka TV as “a significant victory in the fight against internet streaming piracy”.

The broadcaster said it was involved in a “meticulously planned raid” on 31 May, which led to the arrest of a “key suspect involved in one of the most extensive pirate operations in Africa”.

A day later, on 6 June, the broadcaster announced that through Irdeto – and working with law enforcement agencies – it had acted against another pirate streaming operation, this one in Gauteng, where a suspect was arrested for the “illegal sale of internet streaming pirate devices that allowed individuals to access MultiChoice content”.

Jonker, who is antipiracy director in broadcasting and cybersecurity at Irdeto, takes TechCentral’s audience into some detail about the two law enforcement operations and what transpired. And he explains why MultiChoice is stepping up its battle against content thieves and pirate streaming operations in South Africa and the rest of the African continent.

In the interview, Jonker unpacks:

• How serious content piracy has become on the continent;

• Why it’s often associated with organised criminal syndicates, and why consumers are putting themselves at risk by signing up to pirate streaming platforms as well as encouraging further criminal activity;

• Why MultiChoice is now warning that, in addition to targeting the pirate platform operators, it may go after consumers who sign up to these platforms, too; and

• How the broadcaster is working with law enforcement authorities.

Don’t miss a fascinating conversation. TechCentral

MultiChoice Group has been involved in two major enforcement actions against piracy kingpins in as many weeks.

Frikkie Jonker, of MultiChoice subsidiary Irdeto, is the man leading the charge against these pirate operations, and he tells the TechCentral Show (TCS) that, despite recent arrests, the broadcaster’s war on streaming piracy is just getting started. More arrests and other enforcement actions are on the cards.

On 5 June, MultiChoice revealed it had succeeding in nailing the streaming piracy platform Waka TV in an operation that involved Western Cape police investigators. It described the dismantling of Waka TV as “a significant victory in the fight against internet streaming piracy”.

The broadcaster said it was involved in a “meticulously planned raid” on 31 May, which led to the arrest of a “key suspect involved in one of the most extensive pirate operations in Africa”.

A day later, on 6 June, the broadcaster announced that through Irdeto – and working with law enforcement agencies – it had acted against another pirate streaming operation, this one in Gauteng, where a suspect was arrested for the “illegal sale of internet streaming pirate devices that allowed individuals to access MultiChoice content”.

Jonker, who is antipiracy director in broadcasting and cybersecurity at Irdeto, takes TechCentral’s audience into some detail about the two law enforcement operations and what transpired. And he explains why MultiChoice is stepping up its battle against content thieves and pirate streaming operations in South Africa and the rest of the African continent.

In the interview, Jonker unpacks:

• How serious content piracy has become on the continent;

• Why it’s often associated with organised criminal syndicates, and why consumers are putting themselves at risk by signing up to pirate streaming platforms as well as encouraging further criminal activity;

• Why MultiChoice is now warning that, in addition to targeting the pirate platform operators, it may go after consumers who sign up to these platforms, too; and

• How the broadcaster is working with law enforcement authorities.

Don’t miss a fascinating conversation.

Artificial intelligence technologies will be used by both threat actors and those fighting cybercrime, and will bring about fundamental changes in the information security industry.

This is the view of Adrian Stanford, group chief technology officer at ESET Southern Africa, who was speaking to TechCentral’s TCS+ business technology show this week.

Stanford, who is immersed in the world of infosec, unpacks how cyberattackers are using – and will expand their use of – generative AI tools to achieve their nefarious objectives, and how cybersecurity professionals can utilise the same technologies to fight back and improve defences.

He unpacks:

• The key trends shaping the infosec landscape in 2024, including supply-chain attacks, deepfakes and nation state involvement;

• How AI factors into cybersecurity, including what threat actors are doing with the technology, and how AI will help companies like ESET fight the scourge of cybercrime;

• How future developments in AI will impact the infosec field, both good and bad; and

• The role of ESET in protecting internet users from harm as the AI arms race hots up.

Don’t miss this important discussion on a critically important topic to all organisations – big and small – in 2024. TechCentral

Artificial intelligence technologies will be used by both threat actors and those fighting cybercrime, and will bring about fundamental changes in the information security industry.

This is the view of Adrian Stanford, group chief technology officer at ESET Southern Africa, who was speaking to TechCentral’s TCS+ business technology show this week.

Stanford, who is immersed in the world of infosec, unpacks how cyberattackers are using – and will expand their use of – generative AI tools to achieve their nefarious objectives, and how cybersecurity professionals can utilise the same technologies to fight back and improve defences.

He unpacks:

• The key trends shaping the infosec landscape in 2024, including supply-chain attacks, deepfakes and nation state involvement;

• How AI factors into cybersecurity, including what threat actors are doing with the technology, and how AI will help companies like ESET fight the scourge of cybercrime;

• How future developments in AI will impact the infosec field, both good and bad; and

• The role of ESET in protecting internet users from harm as the AI arms race hots up.

Don’t miss this important discussion on a critically important topic to all organisations – big and small – in 2024.

Pinnacle CEO Tim Humphreys-Davies and his management team are early adopters in South Africa of generative AI tools in the workplace.

He joins TechCentral’s TCS+ to talk about the experience, and the impact the technology is likely to have on business operations.

Pinnacle, which is one of South Africa’s top ICT distributors, is testing the technology with the aim of assisting its channel partners with the shift to AI tools and deploying these in end-user organisations.

Humphreys-Davies explains what Pinnacle’s experience of generative AI has been to date, and he shares his views on the likely impact on productivity of deploying the technology.

In the discussion, he unpacks:

• Pinnacle’s objectives in using generative AI internally;

• The company’s learnings so far;

• The challenges encountered; and

• The impediments to deploying the technology effectively, including data availability issues, the skills gap, and the risk and complexity involved.

He also discusses Pinnacle’s exclusive distribution agreement with Nvidia – whose chips are fuelling the generative AI boom – and the industries which he believes will be impacted by AI to the greatest degree.

Lastly, Humphreys-Davies explores where the technology might be going, and how he sees Pinnacle using it in the years ahead. TechCentral