Sad news in from Microsoft South Africa, which has told us that its Chief Security Officer, Dr Khomotso Kganyago, passed away over the holiday period.

An industry veteran and highly regarded in the ICT sector, Microsoft boss Mteto Nyati says that Dr Kganyago died on the 31st of December after a struggle with a condition “that was diagnosed a few months ago”. Kganyago had posted to his Facebook page about cancer treatments in October.

During his three-and-a-half years at Microsoft he consulted and advised on many security issues, including local cybersecurity policies, botnets operating in Africa, as well as promoting the adoption of cloud computing in business. He also regularly spoke at security and ICT industry conferences. Kganyago also maintained a personal blog of his experiences and opinions about security in the commercial and public domains, in particular on the effects of cybercrime on society.

As well as his position at Microsoft, Khomotso was also appointed to the National Cyber Security Advisory Council (NCAC) in September last year, which was convened by communications minister Yunus Carrim. The NCAC forms part of the National Cyber Security Policy, and advises government on technical and commercial issues for its security policies.

Prior to working for Microsoft, Kganyago held positions at the National Library of South Africa, CSIR, Statistics SA and the University of Limpopo, from where he held a PhD in Solid State Physics.