South Africa was hit by a massive data breach in August after Experian, one of the country’s biggest credit bureaus, was hacked. Experian said the personal information details of as many as 24-million South Africans, and nearly 800 000 businesses, were “exposed to a suspected fraudster”. The attack was one of many during the Covid-19 pandemic, during which cybercriminals sought to take advantage of the fact that some defences were lowered due to the shift in focus to the health crisis. As with the pandemic itself, individuals, companies and countries will have to improve both their vigilance and defence systems to prevent future attacks, which come at a huge cost to society.