Semaphore, Author at Semaphore Communications

The dark side of AI acceleration in financial software development

McKinsey analysed almost 300 publicly traded companies to understand how AI is reshaping software development. It found that the top 20 percent are achieving between 16 and 30 percent improvements in productivity, time to market, and customer experience, along with between 31 and 45 percent gains in software quality. However, while software partners rush to […]

OAuth token theft surges despite MFA, as attackers weaponise consent

By Heino Gevers, Mimecast VP of Customer Value A sharp rise in OAuth device code phishing campaigns designed to exploit Microsoft 365 and other cloud platforms is forcing security leaders to re-think enterprise trust. Account takeover is no longer about cracking weak passwords, it’s about hijacking trusted workflows that look and feel legitimate, even in […]

AI fraud is outrunning South African banking defences

By Nishan Maharaj, Entersekt Fraud Analyst South Africans are increasingly being targeted by AI-generated fraudsters who sound just like bank employees. In March 2026, Standard Bank publicly warned about AI-generated voices, cloned emails and deepfake content being used to mimic legitimate bank communications and staff. This type of activity has continued through mid-2026 with the […]

Share doesn’t mean surrender. Personal info revisions needed to digital ID rules

By Entersekt Chief Technology Officer, Gerhard Oosthuizen South Africa is on the cusp of a major shift in how we prove who we are in the digital world. If the deluge of posts on community message groups is anything to go by, the proposed new digital identity (ID) regulations have captured public attention, and for […]

Companies brace for the token economy’s surprise hidden bill

In most boardrooms AI is still sold as a magic elixir, promising smarter decisions, happier customers, and fewer staff. However, as companies move from AI experiments to AI‑everywhere, a token economy is taking shape, and its hidden bill is about to land. AI token prices have fallen sharply over the past few years with industry […]

The growing risk of betting everything on public LLMs

Many South African companies are walking blindfolded into an unhealthy (and unsustainable) dependence on public large language models (LLMs) without understanding the commercial and governance risks, according to software development specialist, Global Kinetic’s CEO, Martin Dippenaar. Global Kinetic builds software for highly regulated clients and Dippenaar says while financial institutions and other large enterprises are […]

Billions of rands in transactions lost as 3DS remains underutilised

Global card networks are increasing mandated data requirements for 3-D Secure (3DS) authentication to enhance payment security and reduce friction by providing banks with certain minimum data fields they need for informed authentication decisions. Banking and payment authentication specialist, Entersekt, says this will benefit local merchants who continue to resist 3DS authentication, cutting themselves off […]

Banks urged to reuse fraud data to fix broken dispute processes

Fraud dispute resolution is often manual, can take weeks, and research shows 73% of customers say their loyalty is heavily influenced by how fraud is handled. While customer satisfaction and retention may largely lie in the ambit of the CMO, a large part of the solution lies with today’s security leaders. Despite increasing security efforts, […]

Fraudsters may target AI mandates as agentic commerce takes off

Dewald Nolte, Chief Strategy Officer at Entersekt As AI agents begin to transact on behalf of customers, anxiety among financial institutions (FIs) is mounting. But South African‑born global authentication specialist, Entersekt, says the industry already has the right foundations to manage the rapid growth of agentic commerce and the fraud risks that come with it. […]

People-first delivery & team integration: Fixing fragmented SDLC for good

Agile Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) practices have seen widespread adoption with around 70% of organisations now making use of Agile in some form. However, the majority of organisations’ understanding and adoption of Agile practices remains fragmented, leading to costly delays and reputational risks. Instead of making fixed-scope promises, using change control, relying on sequential […]

Prompt engineering is redefining software value

For decades, competitive advantage in software was assumed to live strictly within the lines of source code. The more sophisticated your codebase, the bigger your edge. Today, modern AI tooling is reshaping that advantage, but instead of erasing the value of code, it is expanding the skills required to produce it. IT leaders must recognise […]

Unmasking cybertreats across Germany, SA and the UK

In 2025, global cybercrime is projected to cost $10.5 trillion. If cybercrime were a country, it would have the world’s third-largest gross domestic product (GDP). This rapidly growing global risk now poses an acute threat to macro financial stability andorganisational resilience. For business leaders, understanding the universal challenges aswell as region-specific nuances is critical to […]

Semaphore selected as mentor for IPREX global leadership programme

Semaphore has been selected as a mentor for the prestigious IPREX Academy, a global leadership programme designed to cultivate the next generation of PR and communications professionals. The IPREX Academy, which brings together top emerging talent from independent agencies worldwide, provides participants with direct access to industry leaders through a nine-month curriculum, mentorship, and global […]

Can PR help startups overcome the tech investment slowdown?

Funding for African startups, particularly tech startups, has often surprised the pundits, bucking the global trends and often hitting high notes that nobody expected. In fact, 2022 was a record-breaking year for the industry. But 2023 finally saw the global investment malaise catch up with the continent, with a Disrupt Africa report showing that total […]

A cashless society remains elusive, but the journey has many benefits

The payments industry often speaks about a cashless society like it’s the Nirvana we should all be striving towards. But, like it or not, cash will remain the backbone of our payments framework – in emerging markets at least – for a good few years. Semaphore dialled in for the Payments Association of South Africa’s […]

Open Banking insights from PIPC 2021

In September 2021, the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) hosted its 4th international payments conference (PIPC). We knew that the discussions would be of significance to our clients and so we followed the sessions which covered the rapidly altering and transforming payments ecosystem, both locally and globally. Below is our summary of the one […]

Uncertain 2018 needs new kind of PR

BY STAFF WRITER: A new on-demand PR economy is emerging as we head into a future that’s more unpredictable than at any other time in history. Over the past few decades, the world economy has seen steady growth and relative stability since World War II. But business and economic environments are now more turbulent than […]

5 Tips to rock your media interview

BY STAFF WRITER: New spokespeople often worry they’ll slip up when speaking to media – especially as journalists seem to have the home advantage. “I’m a complete novice at these interviews,” one client said, “while this is what reporters do every day!” But in the vast majority of cases, business owners don’t have to engage […]

How to maximise PR at trade shows

BY STAFF WRITER: Trade shows are a great way to establish brand visibility and credibility. It can also help you generate awareness of a new product, do competitive research, expand your professional network, and meet a large number of prospects face-to-face in a short period of time. But it can get pretty expensive to book […]

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