The news:
- Several African countries made it to the list of the nations most attacked by malware, according to the Global Threat Index for June 2024 published by cybersecurity firm CheckPoint.
- With a Normalised Risk Index (NRI) of 99.0, Ethiopia holds the top spot for the most attacked country on the continent and second worldwide. Zimbabwe follows closely at third place globally NRI of 78.1.
- Coming 6th and 9th respectively, Angola (NRI of 72.4) and Kenya (NRI of 65.7) saw a rise in their malware risk rankings.
Out of the 112 countries ranked globally, the report puts South Africa in 61st position. At 112th, Egypt ranked as the least attacked country in the world.
If anything, the report’s ranking of African countries further underlines the utmost importance of cybersecurity readiness for individuals and businesses on the continent.
Despite ongoing efforts by various entities to enhance their cyber defences, malware continues to pose significant risks.
For example, Techpoint Africa recently reported that a Nigerian government agency, protecting the country’s cyberspace from incidents like data breaches and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, warned that critical Nigerian-based cloud service providers were under potential Phobos ransomware attacks.
In 2023, a hacker breached South Africa’s Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD), accessing 1,204 files and compromising electronic services, including letters of authority, handling bail, email, and the departmental website. The country's Information Regulator (IR) fined the department R5 million ($267,810) for negligence.
Yet again, in March 2024, South Africa’s Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), the body in charge of registering and protecting the rights of businesses in South Africa, experienced a cyberattack compromising the personal information of its clients and employees.
As of July 2024, Phorpiex, renowned for orchestrating extensive spam campaigns and prevalent across Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Mozambique, emerged as the foremost malware group affecting Africa. Other notable threats include Allcome Clipper, which targets cryptocurrencies; Expiro, a polymorphic file infector compromising user and system information; Qbot, a versatile malware; and FakeUpdates (SocGholish), a downloader malware.
Reports indicate that the most attacked sectors in Africa include government agencies, military outfits, financial institutions, utility companies, communications infrastructure, and education and research organisations.
Issam El Haddaoui, CheckPoint Security Engineering Manager for Africa, said, “In light of these statistics, organisations in Africa must adopt a proactive approach to cybersecurity. Leveraging advanced threat intelligence, robust defence mechanisms and comprehensive incident response plans are essential steps to mitigate the risks posed by cyber threats.”
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