Says TippingPoint director of channels and alliances EMEA, Richard Gold: "(South Africa) is one of the strongest markets for us, and, with phishing attacks growing rapidly, in combination with regulations binding companies to protect data, we see a huge opportunity here to grow our business."

Andrew Ochse, senior product manager at SecureData, says that it has just recently signed another large government department as a client, and already has a major cellco and one of the four major banks as customers. "We have many deals on the cards, which are expected to be concluded before year-end."

The company recently launched its comprehensive network-based intrusion prevention system (IPS) system to thwart phishing attacks and assist in curbing identity theft.

Gold says that the solution is designed to pre-empt attacks through bespoke hardware, and software - 'the true clever bit' - coupled with services. "It does two things. It identifies an attack and stops it before it happens. It then records the event and lets you know what has happened through a report. Think of it like the movie Minority Report, where a crime is detected, and the criminals are stopped before they act."

The solution sits within the network and, says Gold, is almost invisible, and cannot be targeted by hackers or phishers, unlike firewalls. He calls it a "bump on the wire".