Johannesburg – As part of the company's participation in the Gitex Africa Conference, held in Morocco from April 14-16, 2025, Kaspersky (www.kaspersky.co.za) will address the dynamics of cyberthreats in Africa according to the latest anonymous data from the Kaspersky security network.
From 2023 to 2024, African businesses were targeted by web, device threats and attacks aimed at stealing data such as spyware and password steelers.
Phishing and ransomware continue to be a major threat in the region, including 66 million phishing link clicks seen by Kaspersky in the African region in 2024, and 14.8 million phishing link clicks by business users.
Web-based or online threats are categories of cybersecurity risks that can cause unwanted events or actions that affect users browsing the Internet.
According to data from Kaspersky, 131 580 587 web threats were detected in the African region in 2024. This included around 20 million attempts in Kenya, nearly 17 million in South Africa and 12.6 million in Morocco.
Companies target web threats more frequently than 2023 and 2024, with threat detection increasing by 1.2%.
Local (on-device) threats include malware spreading through removable USB drives, CDs, DVDs, or malware that reaches your computer in an unopened format (for example, complex installers, encrypted files, etc.).
According to Kaspersky Telemetry, local (on-device) threat detection for organizations in the African region in 2023 increased by 4% compared to 2023.
Among the countries that saw the growth of regional threats detected by the organization were Nigeria (an increase of 169%), Ethiopia (86%), South Africa (32%), Senegal (11%) and Morocco (9%).
There was a surge in threats related to data theft.
According to Kaspersky data, spyware attack detection increased by 14% in companies in Africa between 2023 and 2024.
Spyware is secretly installed on a user's computer, monitors actions and collects data.
Separately, password steeler detection has increased by 26%. Password Steelers are a type of malware designed to harvest login credentials and other sensitive data.
“Our statistics show an increase in attack detection for several types of cyberthreats, and the factors driving these increases are multifaceted.
In the B2B sector, a continuous shift towards hybrid work models and a rush of digitalising operations that often outweigh cybersecurity investments could put African businesses under a high degree of sustained threat.
In the B2C space, the explosion of digital financial services, coupled with low digital literacy rates, makes the target of personality-driven attacks a prime target.
“African organizations need to prioritize a unified approach by enhancing collaboration, investing in specialized cybersecurity training, and promoting digital literacy to effectively combat the rising tide of cybercrime.
“Initiatives such as Africa's cybersurge operations and targeted education programs will serve as blueprints for building a resilient digital ecosystem across the continent.”
To remain protected, Kaspersky suggests following recommendations:
Individual users:
Do not download and install applications from untrusted sources. Do not click on links from unknown sources or suspicious online ads. Always use two-factor authentication if available. Create powerful and unique passwords using low and high case letters, numbers and punctuation combinations. Use a trusted password manager to help you remember them. Always install the update when it becomes available. Includes fixes for serious security issues. Ignore messages asking you to disable your office or cybersecurity software security systems. Use robust security solutions suitable for your system type and device, such as Kaspersky Premium (apo-opa.co/3g2yjuz).
Organization:
By exploiting the vulnerability, it keeps your software up to date on all devices that attackers use to prevent them from entering your network. Do not expose Remote Desktop Services (such as RDP) to public networks unless absolutely necessary. Always use a strong password. Use solutions such as Kaspersky Next EDR Expert (apo-opa.co/4IFQ8NV) to harness comprehensive visibility across all endpoints on your enterprise's corporate network to gain superior defense, automate daily EDR tasks, and analysts quickly hunt out, prioritize, investigate, mitigate complex threats and mitigate appropriate attacks. It uses the latest threat intelligence (apo-opa.co/3xvfta3) information to keep it aware of the actual TTP used by threat actors. Back up your company data regularly. The backup must be isolated from the network. If necessary, make sure you have quick access to your backups in case of an emergency.
Kaspersky, at Gitex Africa in Morocco (https://gitexafrica.com), is located at Hall 13, 13C-20, with the keynote speech entitled “When AI/ML fails in cybersecurity, humans are the last line of defense” will be held in a dark phase on April 15th at 2:10pm.
reference:
(1) Data sent to Kaspersky is anonymized and protected even in transit, following strict industry standards such as encryption, digital certificates, isolated storage, and strict data access policies. For more information about KSN, visit www.kaspersky.com/ksn
