BY SIBUSISEKILE NDLANGAMANDLA
MANZINI – With highly sensitive records involving survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), children and young people passing through its hands, the Nhlangano Aids Training Information and Counselling Centre (NATICC) has moved to strengthen the way its staff protect confidential information from growing cyber threats.
The organisation recently conducted a two-day cybersecurity and digital safeguarding training with Jonathan Cyber, placing particular emphasis on protecting information belonging to some of the most vulnerable people it serves.
NATICC handles GBV survivor records, child protection case files and psychosocial support information as part of its daily work.
This means that a data breach, careless handling of information or unauthorised access could go beyond disrupting the organisation’s operations and potentially expose people who depend on its services for protection and support.
The training therefore focused on equipping staff with practical knowledge on how sensitive information should be collected, stored, accessed and shared securely.
Among the emerging risks discussed were artificial intelligence-enabled fraud and social engineering — methods increasingly used to manipulate individuals into revealing confidential information or providing access to protected systems.
Staff were also taken through the legal responsibilities that come with handling personal and sensitive information.
Eswatini’s Data Protection Act of 2022 and the Computer Crime and Cybercrime Act of 2022 formed part of the discussions, highlighting the legal framework governing personal information and cyber-related matters in the country.
The training covered key data protection principles such as lawfulness, purpose limitation, data minimisation and accountability.
These principles are particularly relevant to NATICC because information is not always collected within the controlled environment of an office.
Its staff regularly work directly with survivors, youth and children in the field, creating an added responsibility to ensure that information captured outside the office remains protected.
Digital safeguarding consequently formed a major part of the programme, with attention given to how staff can collect, store and share information without exposing the identities or personal circumstances of the people they are assisting.
The training went beyond preventing cyberattacks and also examined what the organisation should do when an incident occurs.
Incident response, business continuity, third-party risks and board oversight were among the areas covered as NATICC sought to strengthen its preparedness and organisational resilience.
The emphasis was that organisations handling sensitive information should not wait until a cyber incident occurs before deciding how to respond.
For NATICC, cybersecurity is therefore not simply an information technology issue. It is closely linked to protecting the dignity, privacy and safety of survivors, children and young people who entrust the organisation with personal information.
The two-day programme brought together cybersecurity, data protection and digital safeguarding as key responsibilities in NATICC’s day-to-day operations, while sharpening staff awareness of emerging cyber threats and safer information-handling practices.
