Phishing Attacks In Nigeria, Other Africa Country Drop In H1 2021

A cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky says that it has recorded a 13 percent decline in the number of phishing attacks recorded and blocked for the first half of this year when compared to the same period of 2020.

Kaspersky made this known in a press statement released on Tuesday. Nigeria emerged third behind first-place Kenya (48 percent decline) and second-place South Africa (17 percent decline).

The number of phishing attacks recorded in South Africa for the first half of 2021 stood at 1,031,006, while Kenya recorded 601,557, with Nigeria reporting 393,569.

According to Kaspersky, while the decline does suggest and support research trends – that cybercriminals have become more targeted, focusing their efforts on advanced persistent threat (APT) campaigns in Africa – the phishing threat is still very prevalent.

Enterprise Sales Manager at Kaspersky in Africa, Bethwel Opil said “This decrease is in line with global trends and supports the decline that Kaspersky research identified happening through the course of last year already. Of course, this does not mean that organisations and consumers can ignore the risk of traditional cybercrime attacks or that phishing, as well as spam, are still not of significant concern across Africa. Instead, people need to become even more aware of cybersecurity best practice and remain vigilant to protect their personal and business systems from the risk of compromise.”

 “Phishing and spam remain some of the most effective ways of targeting unsuspecting users and gaining access into corporate systems or compromising personal financial and other information that can be used to perpetrate identity theft,” says Opil.

In addition to installing relevant cybersecurity solutions, individuals and businesses must consider the following tips to protect themselves against spam email and phishing:

Kaspersky also warned users to never respond to any spam as malicious users verify receipt and log responses of active email addresses. Use multiple email addresses. One can be for personal correspondence while another can be used for online shopping or social media. users were instructed to always check the link and ensure the links start with HTTPS:// and not HTTP://.

Users were also advised not to rush or panic react - scammers use such tactics to pressure you into clicking links or opening attachments. Keep your browser and operating system software up to date with the latest patches.