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Mail & Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
Young, connected and exposed: Cybercriminals are preying on SA's youth
Young people's digital fluency and ambition make them vulnerable to crime. Photo: Reuters South Africa's young people are born digital but that doesn't mean they're digitally secure. As millions of young people navigate a mobile-first world, filled with peer-to-peer payments, monetised social media and digital hustles, cybercriminals drool at the nefarious possibilities it all presents. South Africa is one of the most mobile-centric nations in the world. With more than 95% of internet users in the country accessing it using smartphones, and the youth forming the bulk of this demographic, this always-online behaviour creates exposure at scale. Add in rising financial independence through mobile wallets, gig work and social commerce and you have a highly monetisable attack surface. Young people aren't just using digital tools — they're building livelihoods with them. But this blurs the line between personal, professional and financial data. And that convergence is exactly what cybercriminals love to exploit. The top cyber threats targeting South African youth are: 1. Phishing disguised as giveaways and scholarships Instagram, TikTok, X and WhatsApp groups are flooded with fake bursary ads, competitions and follower-boosting schemes — all engineered to harvest personal or banking details. 2. Fake job offers Desperate to enter the workforce, young South Africans are falling victim to scam recruiters requesting admin fees or identity documents for jobs that don't exist. These schemes also build databases for future fraud. 3. SIM swop and mobile money fraud Once criminals gain access to mobile-linked accounts, they intercept one-time passwords (OTPs) and drain wallets in seconds. In Uganda, a single SIM-swap incident caused losses of over It's not just a personal risk — it's a business one too. As young professionals enter the workforce, they bring their digital habits with them — often using the same compromised devices and passwords in the work environment. From BYOD (bring your own devices) to remote work, the line between home and corporate networks is almost non-existent for many junior staff. If a young employee's phone is compromised, your business data might already be in the wrong hands. What can be done? Individuals should use strong, unique passwords and enable multifactor authentication. They should also be cautious about app downloads and only install from official sources with ample reviews. In addition they can lock down social media and avoid sharing online their ID number, school name or the bank they're can easily happen accidentally with a bill or bank card visible in a selfie, for example. Parents need to start conversations about scams, privacy and the effect on people's mental health. They should also focus on acknowledging their children's grasp of technology to avoid making security advice seem condescending. Parents can encourage reporting – young people are often embarrassed, so create a safe space to talk. Monitor children with respect, which means using parental tools to build trust and not to spy. Employers need to educate early hires on cybersecurity basics before, rather than after enforcing mandates They too need secure BYOD policies and personal devices with strong endpoint protections. In addition, they must create a cybersafe culture because no one is too savvy to be phished. Young South Africans are not naive: they're ambitious, creative and connected. But without proper safeguards, that same ambition becomes their greatest vulnerability. Youth Month is a reminder of their potential — but potential can be devastatingly derailed if it's exploited. We need a national commitment to protecting our future by educating, equipping and empowering young people. Their success depends on it — and so does ours. Doros Hadjizenonos is the regional director of Fortinet Southern Africa.
Forbes
04-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How AI Polymaths Are Quietly Rewriting The Social Contract Of Work
In the not-so-distant future, step into any forward-thinking company and you'll notice something remarkable. The most valuable team members are not just specialists in one domain. They are AI polymaths. Like Renaissance figures for the digital age, they blend creativity, technical savvy, and mastery of digital tools to tackle a wide array of challenges, often at a moment's notice. Traditional job descriptions no longer confine these individuals. Instead, they orchestrate projects, wielding a suite of AI agents and platforms. Think Gamma for presentations, NotebookLM for data synthesis, or custom-built agents that automate workflows. In this new landscape, the question is no longer "What is your job title?" but "What can you make happen with the tools at your fingertips?" Thus begins the renegotiating of the social contract of work as we know it. Shopify exemplifies this shift. CEO Tobi Lütke has made it clear that "using AI effectively is now a fundamental expectation at Shopify." Employees must integrate it into their daily work, from drafting product descriptions with Shopify Magic to automating translations and email responses with specialized bots. Before hiring, managers must prove that AI cannot handle the task. This policy will create a culture where employees are experimenting with and mastering new tools, enabling them to tackle diverse challenges independently or as orchestrators of hybrid teams. The result is a workforce where adaptability and digital fluency are prized, and the most successful harness AI to amplify their capabilities and impact. This trend is emerging now because the constraints that made intelligence and expertise scarce are dissolving. With "intelligence on tap," meaning AI agents that can reason, plan, and act, knowledge isn't limited by who you can hire or how many specialists you can afford. The rapid adoption of digital labor is closing the gap between business demands and human capacity, allowing organizations to scale and adapt faster. As AI automates routine and technical tasks, the real differentiator becomes the ability to integrate knowledge across fields, manage hybrid teams of humans and agents, and deliver value in novel ways. In this landscape, adaptability, curiosity, and the willingness to direct both human and digital talent are the most important skills. This shift is more than a tech upgrade. It's a structural revolution. For decades, organizations have been built around fixed roles and rigid hierarchies. Now, as intelligence becomes scalable, ambient, and available like electricity, the old org chart is giving way to the "work chart." Teams form and dissolve around projects, not departments. The AI polymath thrives here, assembling the right combination of human and digital talent for each challenge, then moving on to the next. In this model, employment becomes a series of high-impact, short-to-medium-term projects, each demanding a fresh mix of skills and tools, leaving traditional job security in the digital dust. In the age of frontier firms, as Microsoft puts it, every worker is expected to become an agent boss. They'll manage and delegate AI tools and amplify their impact by orchestrating digital colleagues. Not just seasoned leaders. Junior employees can now manage teams of AI agents, performing work that took years of experience. The result? The traditional career ladder is being replaced by a launchpad where your trajectory is defined by your ability to scale yourself and your ideas through intelligent agents. This transformation goes beyond efficiency and productivity. It's rewriting the social contract of jobs. The boundaries between roles blur. The promise of lifelong employment fades. Workers gain flexibility and agency, but not without uncertainties. Will your skills remain relevant as AI evolves? How do you build a reputation or sense of belonging when your team changes quarterly? These are the new questions AI-powered workplaces will face. In a conversation with Harvard Business School, Sam Altman observes that the rise of AI will compel us to rethink jobs and society. He's absolutely right. How will we provide security, opportunity, and meaning in a world where machines are partners, not tools? The outcomes of today's rigorous policy debates around universal basic income, lifelong learning, and updated labor protections will significantly shape tomorrow's workplace. Beyond theoretical discussions, concrete initiatives are underway. Singapore's SkillsFuture provides citizens with credits for continuous education and retraining, acknowledging the shrinking half-life of technical skills. The UAE is offering universal access to ChatGPT Plus for its citizens, democratizing advanced AI capabilities as a public good and positioning Gen AI literacy as essential national infrastructure. In the corporate realm, Salesforce's quarterly Agentforce Learning Days give employees 'judgment-free time' to experiment with AI tools, easing the transition as roles evolve. Accenture's Technology Quotient (TQ) program assesses and develops workers' technological literacy, providing personalized learning pathways to build AI competencies. These initiatives recognize that adapting to AI requires more than new tools. It demands cultural transformation and space for experimentation. The stakes extend beyond economics into identity and purpose. For generations, work has provided income, structure, community, and meaning. If the AI polymath model dominates, with its emphasis on project-based tasks and fluid teams, how will we replace these social functions? Some organizations are experimenting with new community structures, digital guilds that provide continuity and belonging despite changing assignments. Others are redesigning physical workspaces to facilitate human connections, even as more work becomes digital. These are not mere operational considerations but fundamental questions about organizing society when the traditional employment relationship no longer serves as its backbone. AI excels at automation and optimization. However, human ability to connect, imagine, and navigate ambiguity remains irreplaceable. The best polymaths don't just get things done. They see possibilities others miss, bringing together people and machines to create new value. The future of work belongs to those who can scale their impact by working smarter, not harder. The social contract of work is being renegotiated in real time. AI polymaths are at the forefront, blending human ingenuity with digital power. The future is being written—one project, one agent, one polymath at a time. The question isn't if this change will come, but if you're ready to move with it.
