Nigeria, Others Rank Among Highest Online Threats In Africa — Report

Kaspersky Cyber dangers Report, revealed that Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya are the top three African countries suffering online dangers.

According to the research, these three African nations ranked high in the worldwide top 100 for cyber risks.

Nigeria currently ranks 50th in the world for cyber dangers, South Africa ranks 82nd, and Kenya ranks 35th, according to Kaspersky.

Backdoor and spyware assaults were the most prevalent threat kinds in South Africa in the first quarter of 2023, according to Kaspersky, with 106,000 attack attempts. Similar assault attempts totaled 46,000 in Nigeria, whereas the same sort of attack peaked at 143,000 in Kenya. In Kenya, however, exploits appeared as the most prevalent type of attack, with 177,000 occurrences stopped.

Kaspersky also emphasised the rising number of zombie PCs, which are internet-connected devices that form part of a botnet. Legacy, ancient, and forgotten gadgets, IoT devices, network equipment, printers, cameras, and even coffee makers are examples. So far this year, 1.6 million zombie computers have been discovered in South Africa and 300,000 in Kenya.

Dr Amin Hasbini, Head of the Global Research & Analysis Team (GReAT) for META at Kaspersky, remarked at the recently finished first GITEX Africa conference in Morocco:

“Criminal attacks are mainly driven by the pursuit of financial profit, whereas advanced attacks indicate how cyber threat actors continually adapt their tactics and tools to breach security measures. A significant portion of the attacks witnessed across Africa are shaped by the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape.

However, a growing concern is that cybercriminals are learning from successful advanced attacks to refine their craft.”

Dr. Hasbini’s presentation also flagged several ransomware groups setting their sights on African targets.

“Threats to critical infrastructure, financial institutions, government entities, and service providers have predominated the cyber threat landscape over the past year. We have witnessed different threat actors target various businesses across industries,” he said.

Kaspersky encouraged organisations to implement a multi-layered defensive plan in response to these increasingly complex cyber attacks.

“This is where extended detection and response (XDR) solutions become essential – they analyse data from endpoints and other sources. XDR introduces another layer of protection as attacks on infrastructure can occur through any entry point. XDR also adds analytical and automation functions to detect and eliminate current and potential threats.

"Furthermore, continuous security awareness training for employees and real-time access to intelligence on the latest attack methods should supplement any cybersecurity strategy.

“Businesses should consider leveraging advanced technologies such as threat feeds, security information and event management systems, endpoint detection and response solutions, and tools with digital forensics and incident response features. It is vital to understand that cyber security measures are an ongoing endeavor – and that there is no universal solution to secure a corporate network or data,” Dr. Hasbini added.