South African organisations report higher rates of malicious insider activity than the global average, with 46% noting an increase in deliberate data theft over the past year, according to Mimecast's State of Human Risk Report. A key emerging risk is the theft of AI models, which encapsulate intellectual property and competitive strategy in immediately usable form — yet most organisations lack tools to detect such exfiltration. The report highlights a 'recognition/action gap': while awareness training is common, only 28% of organisations globally combine it with continuous monitoring and integrated technical controls. South Africa is particularly exposed due to workforce volatility, inadequate offboarding processes, and 52% of respondents unable to locate communications data quickly enough for regulatory compliance. Globally, insider incidents cost an estimated $13.1 million each, occurring roughly six times per month per organisation.
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