IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2020i1p291-d472592.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cybersecurity Policy and the Legislative Context of the Water and Wastewater Sector in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Masike Malatji

    (Postgraduate School of Engineering Management, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, PO Box 524 Johannesburg, South Africa)

  • Annlizé L. Marnewick

    (Postgraduate School of Engineering Management, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, PO Box 524 Johannesburg, South Africa)

  • Suné von Solms

    (Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524 Johannesburg, South Africa)

Abstract

The water and wastewater sector is an important lifeline upon which other economic sectors depend. Securing the sector’s critical infrastructure is therefore important for any country’s economy. Like many other nations, South Africa has an overarching national cybersecurity strategy aimed at addressing cyber terrorism, cybercriminal activities, cyber vandalism, and cyber sabotage. The aim of this study is to contextualise the water and wastewater sector’s cybersecurity responsibilities within the national cybersecurity legislative and policy environment. This is achieved by conducting a detailed analysis of the international, national and sector cybersecurity stakeholders; legislation and policies; and challenges pertaining to the protection of the water and wastewater sector. The study found some concerning challenges and improvement gaps regarding the complex manner in which the national government is implementing the cybersecurity strategy. The study also found that, along with the National Cybersecurity Policy Framework (the national cybersecurity strategy of South Africa), the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, and other supporting legislation and policies make provision for the water and wastewater sector’s computer security incidents response team to be established without the need to propose any new laws or amend existing ones. This is conducive for the immediate development of the sector-specific cybersecurity governance framework and resilience strategy to protect the water and wastewater assets.

Suggested Citation

  • Masike Malatji & Annlizé L. Marnewick & Suné von Solms, 2020. "Cybersecurity Policy and the Legislative Context of the Water and Wastewater Sector in South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-33, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2020:i:1:p:291-:d:472592
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/1/291/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/1/291/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nir Kshetri, 2015. "Cybercrime and Cybersecurity Issues in the BRICS Economies," Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 245-249, October.
    2. Barbier, Edward B. & Burgess, Joanne C., 2017. "The sustainable development goals and the systems approach to sustainability," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 11, pages 1-23.
    3. Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar, 2016. "Building national cyber resilience and protecting critical information infrastructure," Journal of Cyber Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(1), pages 94-106, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:thr:techub:10027:y:2022:i:1:p:253-268 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Kęstutis Biekša & Violeta Valiulė & Ligita Šimanskienė & Raffaele Silvestri, 2022. "Assessment of Sustainable Economic Development in the EU Countries with Reference to the SDGs and Environmental Footprint Indices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Hanna Dudek & Joanna Myszkowska-Ryciak & Agnieszka Wojewódzka-Wiewiórska, 2021. "Profiles of Food Insecurity: Similarities and Differences across Selected CEE Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-19, August.
    4. Aurelia Rybak & Ewelina Włodarczyk, 2022. "Impact of Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection on the Volume of Domestic Hard Coal Sales in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-12, January.
    5. Chara Papoutsi & Irene Chaidi & Athanasios Drigas & Charalabos Skianis & Charalampos Karagiannidis, 2022. "Emotional Intelligence and ICTs for Women and Equality," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 27(1), pages 253-268, January.
    6. Neumann, Kai & Anderson, Carl & Denich, Manfred, 2018. "Participatory, explorative, qualitative modeling: Application of the iMODELER software to assess trade-offs among the SDGs," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 12, pages 1-19.
    7. David Tremblay & François Fortier & Jean‐François Boucher & Olivier Riffon & Claude Villeneuve, 2020. "Sustainable development goal interactions: An analysis based on the five pillars of the 2030 agenda," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 1584-1596, November.
    8. Shin-Cheng Yeh & Haw-Jeng Chiou & Ai-Wei Wu & Ho-Ching Lee & Homer C. Wu, 2019. "Diverged Preferences towards Sustainable Development Goals? A Comparison between Academia and the Communication Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-21, November.
    9. Krzysztof Kluza & Magdalena Zioło & Iwona Bąk & Anna Spoz, 2021. "Achieving Environmental Policy Objectives through the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. The Case for European Union Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-22, April.
    10. Abdulkarim Hasan Rashed & Afzal Shah, 2021. "The role of private sector in the implementation of sustainable development goals," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 2931-2948, March.
    11. Emilia Conte, 2018. "The Era of Sustainability: Promises, Pitfalls and Prospects for Sustainable Buildings and the Built Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-16, June.
    12. Łukasz Tomczyk, 2021. "Evaluation of Digital Piracy by Youths," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-26, January.
    13. Cook, David & Davíðsdóttir, Brynhildur, 2021. "An appraisal of interlinkages between macro-economic indicators of economic well-being and the sustainable development goals," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    14. Nariê Rinke Dias de Souza & Alexandre Souza & Mateus Ferreira Chagas & Thayse Aparecida Dourado Hernandes & Otávio Cavalett, 2022. "Addressing the contributions of electricity from biomass in Brazil in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals using life cycle assessment methods," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(3), pages 980-995, June.
    15. Anita Breuer & Hannah Janetschek & Daniele Malerba, 2019. "Translating Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Interdependencies into Policy Advice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-20, April.
    16. Hyo Jung (Julie) Chang & Nasir Rakib & Jaehan Min, 2023. "An Exploration of Transformative Learning Applied to the Triple Bottom Line of Sustainability for Fashion Consumers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-14, June.
    17. Piotr Jarosław Żarczyński & Sławomir Józef Krzebietke & Stanisław Sienkiewicz & Jadwiga Wierzbowska, 2023. "The Role of Fallows in Sustainable Development," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, November.
    18. Seyed Meysam Khoshnava & Raheleh Rostami & Rosli Mohamad Zin & Dalia Štreimikienė & Alireza Yousefpour & Wadim Strielkowski & Abbas Mardani, 2019. "Aligning the Criteria of Green Economy (GE) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to Implement Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-23, August.
    19. Seyed Meysam Khoshnava & Raheleh Rostami & Rosli Mohamad Zin & Dalia Štreimikienė & Abbas Mardani & Mohammad Ismail, 2020. "The Role of Green Building Materials in Reducing Environmental and Human Health Impacts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-22, April.
    20. David Cook & Nína Saviolidis & Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir & Lára Jóhannsdóttir & Snjólfur Ólafsson, 2019. "Synergies and Trade-Offs in the Sustainable Development Goals—The Implications of the Icelandic Tourism Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-23, August.
    21. Klaudia Zwolińska & Sylwia Lorenc & Radosław Pomykała, 2022. "Sustainable Development in Education from Students’ Perspective—Implementation of Sustainable Development in Curricula," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-27, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2020:i:1:p:291-:d:472592. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.