Da Vinci Forensics & Cybersecurity is a Cape Town-based digital forensics and cybersecurity investigations firm serving businesses, law firms and private clients across the Western Cape. From our base in Cape Town, we deliver penetration testing, incident response, OSINT investigations and court-ready digital forensics, with certified investigators you can sit across the table from, not a call centre in another time zone.
Whether you are a growing business that needs its defences tested, an attorney who needs digital evidence preserved and presented properly, or a company dealing with fraud, impersonation or a hacked account right now, we handle the technical investigation end to end.
Why Cape Town businesses are being targeted
Cape Town’s economy makes it an attractive hunting ground for cybercriminals. The city’s dense technology and startup sector, its tourism and hospitality industry processing high volumes of card payments, and its port and logistics operations all present exactly the conditions attackers look for: money in motion, busy staff, and email-driven workflows.
The patterns we investigate most often for Western Cape clients include business email compromise (BEC) and invoice redirection fraud, WhatsApp and SIM-swap account hijacking, advance-fee fraud using cloned company websites and impersonated staff, ransomware against small and mid-sized businesses, and payment card fraud affecting hospitality and retail. Under the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020, many of these are now specifically defined offences, and under POPIA, a breach of personal information carries reporting obligations to the Information Regulator that many businesses only discover after the fact.
The common thread: by the time most victims contact us, the money has already moved. Early testing and monitoring is far cheaper than post-incident investigation, but if the incident has already happened, evidence preserved correctly in the first days makes the difference between a recoverable case and a dead end.
Our cybersecurity services in Cape Town
We deliver the full investigation and security lifecycle from Cape Town:
- Penetration testing — network, web application and cloud testing with prioritised, board-ready reporting.
- Digital forensics — forensic imaging, evidence preservation and analysis of computers, phones and cloud accounts.
- Cybercrime & fraud investigations — BEC, advance-fee fraud, impersonation, cryptocurrency tracing.
- OSINT investigations — open-source intelligence for due diligence, threat actor identification and litigation support.
- Digital threat monitoring — ongoing dark web, brand impersonation and attack surface monitoring delivered as a monthly subscription.
- Governance, risk & AI security advisory — POPIA alignment, board-level cyber reporting and AI security & governance frameworks.
Digital forensics and investigations for Cape Town legal teams
A significant portion of our work is briefed by attorneys. Digital evidence wins or loses cases on process: how a device was imaged, whether the chain of custody is intact, and whether the analyst can defend the methodology under cross-examination. Our reports are prepared to be admissible in South African courts, our investigators hold recognised certifications including Certified CyberCrime Investigator (CCCI), and we provide expert witness testimony where matters proceed to trial.
Recent matters handled for Western Cape clients include a multi-domain advance-fee fraud network impersonating a legitimate crane hire company, traced through email header forensics and domain registration analysis to a coordinated fraud operation, and forensic cryptocurrency tracing supporting recovery proceedings in a major investment fraud. We work alongside your existing legal strategy: preserving evidence before it disappears, mapping the fraud network, and packaging findings into a chronological, exhibit-ready format your counsel can use.
If a matter has already been reported to SAPS, we complement rather than replace the official investigation, private forensic work frequently moves faster and keeps civil recovery options open while the criminal process runs its course.
On-site in Cape Town, remote across the Western Cape
Being Cape Town-based means we can meet in person for sensitive matters, collect devices for forensic imaging with a documented chain of custody, and attend on-site when an incident requires boots on the ground. For clients elsewhere in the Western Cape, Stellenbosch, Paarl, the Garden Route — most services are delivered remotely, with secure courier procedures for physical evidence when imaging is required.
Engagements start with a confidential scoping conversation, followed by a written proposal with fixed or hourly pricing before any work begins. For urgent incidents, an account hijacked today, funds transferred this morning — contact us directly and we will prioritise the first-response steps that protect evidence and stop further loss.
Frequently asked questions — cybersecurity in Cape Town
Q1. How much does a cybersecurity assessment cost in Cape Town? It depends on scope. A focused penetration test of a small business network or single web application is priced differently from a full infrastructure assessment. Investigative work is billed at a standard hourly rate, quoted upfront. Contact us with a brief description and we will give you a written estimate, no obligation.
Q2. Do you work with law firms and advocates? Yes — attorney-briefed forensic work is one of our core practice areas. We preserve and analyse digital evidence, prepare exhibit-ready reports, and provide expert witness testimony in South African courts.
Q3. Can you recover a hacked WhatsApp, Instagram or TikTok account? We investigate account hijackings, identify how access was gained, assist with the platform recovery process, and preserve evidence if you intend to pursue the matter criminally or civilly. The sooner you contact us after a hijacking, the better the outcome.
Q4. How quickly can you respond to an incident in Cape Town? For active incidents we can usually begin first-response work, evidence preservation, account lockdown guidance, initial triage, the same day. On-site attendance in the Cape Town metro can typically be arranged within 24 hours.
Q5. Are your reports admissible in South African courts? Our forensic methodology is built around admissibility: documented chain of custody, forensically sound imaging, and reporting aligned with the requirements of the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020 and the law of evidence. Our investigators are certified and available to testify.
Speak to a Cape Town cybersecurity investigator
Confidential, no-obligation scoping call. Tell us what happened, or what you want tested, and we’ll tell you exactly how we’d approach it.
