South Africa ‘isn’t ready’ for AI-accelerated cyberattacks

Cybersecurity experts warn that South African organisations are unprepared for AI-accelerated cyberattacks, citing Anthropic's Claude Mythos Preview model which can identify software vulnerabilities in minutes. With 77% of organisations globally taking over a week to deploy patches, the gap between automated vulnerability discovery and human-paced remediation is widening dangerously. Experts from NEC XON and Sanlam highlight that most South African organisations still rely on periodic testing and fragmented tooling rather than continuous exposure management. The recommended shift is toward architecture-led security, embedding AI into development pipelines before code reaches production, and treating patching as an urgent operational priority rather than a scheduled activity.