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HSRC Annual Report 2016/17
It is the drive of this unit to continuously improve operational efficiencies while achieving compliance. A priority in the
reporting period was to improve general IT controls and governance, along with providing support for the organisation’s
IT infrastructure.
Several significant IT infrastructure and other initiatives were delivered successfully as follows:
•
An upgrade of the Sweetwater network line to high speed fibre connectivity to enhance inter-office collaboration
and access to web services in order to deliver on research projects;
•
A SystemCentre Configuration Manager was deployed as a tool to, amongst others, manage systems, remote access
and control; and to deploy patches, and meter utilisation of software licenses;
•
An e-workflow infrastructure was implemented to streamline the organisation’s internal approval process;
•
Because data curation plays a pivotal role in disseminating the organisation’s research data, infrastructure was
enhanced to create storage capacity by deploying three storage area networks at three of the primary sites; and
•
To reduce user downtime and increase productivity, a user account self-service tool was purchased for deployment.
This tool enables a user who experiences log-on problems, to resolve them without having to wait for helpdesk
assistance.
IT security
Cybercrime has superseded the narcotics industry as the most lucrative illicit trade in the world. This has given rise to the
escalation of malicious cyber-operations to a level never seen before. South Africa is in the top ten targeted countries
in the world. In response, the HSRC took the following proactive steps:
•
Email security was enhanced through the installation of the Targeted Threat Protection Service in the cloud. This
system proactively “reads” an email to remove weaponised attachments or internet links to malicious websites so
that the email is sanitised by the time it reaches the HSRC user’s mailbox. This has cushioned the HSRC from attack
by the virus outbreaks that made headlines in 2016;
•
Perimeter network defences were improved with the purchase and installation of new generation unified threat
protection devices;
•
Towards the end of the financial year, modern wireless network devices were installed to isolate visitors and mobile
devices from the HSRC production network. This ensures that the network, which hosts the daily productivity of the
HSRC, is protected from the high risks inherent in the mobile device and wireless network platforms;
•
A new generation, host-based malicious software defence mechanismwas purchased for implementation in a quest
to create as many security layers around the HSRC’s information resources as possible.