How cyber threats could derail South Africa's mining recovery

Image credit: cottonbro studio on Unsplash

As the sector increasingly digitises, it becomes a high-value target for a diverse range of cybercriminals.

Mining Production

Demand from Asia propels South African mining growth

12 Sep 2025

Safety hazard

The mining sector's vulnerability stems from a distinct overarching challenge: the convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT).

Traditionally, IT systems (such as ERP, cloud and analytics platforms) and OT systems (which control physical processes like excavators, conveyors, and ventilation) were kept separate.

Today, these systems are rapidly converging, and with the introduction of IoT sensors and devices which support various underlying connectivity options and protocols, the attack surface and complexity in securing mining ecosystems.

As a result, traditional security approaches aren’t good enough, and organisations are required to adopt a holistic defence and security strategy to guard against a much larger range of attack vectors.

The risks to OT are very serious.

Cyberattacks on these systems can lead to production disruption, equipment damage, and, most critically, safety hazards for employees.

A ransomware attack that shuts down a processing plant could halt production and impact revenue, while an attack that compromises safety controls could have life-threatening consequences for those working underground.

Equally, the interception and manipulation of operational telemetry could result in impacting decision-making based on manipulated or withheld information.

Health & Safety

The Kitwe disaster: A call for AI and clean data in mining safety

27 Aug 2025

The flow of operational data extending beyond the operational and even organisational boundaries with the adoption of cloud-based third-party solutions (such as condition-based analytics, digital twins and AI), coupled with alternative connectivity options such as mobile (3G, 4G and 5G), is increasingly challenging the effectiveness of traditional security controls.

It is a sobering reality that while the sector grapples with the pressures of economic volatility and infrastructure shortfalls, digital threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Exposed

The 2025 Fortinet Global Threat Landscape Report highlights a 16.71% increase in reconnaissance, where cybercriminals deploy automated scanning to map exposed services.

Of these, Modbus TCP, an industrial protocol encapsulated in IP communications, constitutes 1.6% (over 18 billion) of the total reconnaissance scans detected.

The risk becomes more pronounced when coupled with the wide range of publicly available exploitation toolkits.

In addition, the increased use of generative AI by cybercriminals allows even the most inexperienced actors to build and customise exploitation scripts.

Ransomware operators and hacktivists are now targeting mining organisations to disrupt economies, steal intellectual property, and demand large ransoms.

While we often associate cybersecurity with data breaches, in mining, the risks extend directly to the physical safety of employees.

Cybersecurity

Microsoft hack raises concerns over AI chat data risks for businesses

Richard Ford  25 Aug 2025

Modern mining operations rely on a web of interconnected digital and operational systems to ensure safety.

This includes monitoring for gas leaks, surveillance systems, physical access control systems, managing ventilation, tracking the location and health vitals of employees, and controlling autonomous vehicles.

A cyberattack that compromises these systems can have devastating real-world consequences.

Imagine a scenario where a malicious actor gains control of a mine’s ventilation system, or an attack disrupts the communication network that alerts workers to an emergency.

Across the globe, there have already been documented cases where cyberattacks on industrial environments have compromised physical safety and operational integrity to some degree or another.

In a sector where every second counts, a cyber incident can turn a manageable hazard into a full-blown emergency.

Health & Safety

Sentinel AI rolls out AI dust monitoring across South African mineral belt

1 Sep 2025

Skills gap

Compounding these technical vulnerabilities is a severe cybersecurity skills gap, a challenge that affects nearly every industry but is particularly acute in South Africa.

The shortage of qualified cybersecurity professionals within the mining sector leaves many organisations ill-equipped to manage the IT/OT convergence and respond to sophisticated attacks.

Without the in-house expertise to monitor, detect, and respond to threats, organisations are exposed.

The skills gap also makes it difficult for organisations to implement and maintain effective security awareness training programmes for their employees, who are often the most vulnerable entry point for attackers.

To secure this vital national asset, a comprehensive and integrated cybersecurity strategy is essential.

Mining organisations must move beyond a piecemeal approach to security and adopt a holistic, platform-based strategy that provides end-to-end visibility and control across both IT and OT environments.

This strategy should be built on three pillars:

• Integrated security across IT and OT: Deploy solutions that can unify threat detection and response across the entire network, which should include the corporate office, cloud, third-party services and the operational environment. It is important to note that industrial protection requires purpose-built protection and isn’t natively included in security controls, potentially leaving organisations still vulnerable against ICS-focused attacks. It is, therefore, imperative that organisations ensure that ICS protection is included to eliminate blind spots and provide a single, correlated view of all security events.

• Actionable ICS and IT threat intelligence: Leverage real-time threat intelligence that includes up-to-date ICS threat intelligence to stay ahead of new and emerging attack vectors, enabling proactive rather than reactive defence.

• Empowering the workforce: Invest in ongoing security awareness training to transform employees from a potential liability into a first line of defence backed by integrated AI-powered security intelligence to automate complex tasks, accelerate threat response and bridge the skills gap.

By adopting an integrated and platform-based approach to security, South Africa’s mining sector can ensure it is resilient enough to withstand the escalating economic, geopolitical and cyber threats it faces.

Doing so is both a business decision and a critical step towards safeguarding the national economy – as well as the safety and livelihoods of the thousands of people who work in this key industry.