This archive report was first published on 19 August 2021.
Published on August 19, 2021, Kaspersky Research highlighted a significant surge in malware across Africa, with various countries experiencing strong growth in all malware types in the first half of 2021.
According to the research, the continent witnessed a 5% increase in malware, with cybercriminals and hackers focusing on African countries due to their digital transformation advancements and the rise of remote working resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Africa was the most targeted country, with 32 million attacks, followed by Kenya (28.3 million), Nigeria (16.7 million), and Ethiopia (8 million).
While Kenya saw a 13% decrease in malware attacks, the other three countries experienced significant growth, with Ethiopia and Nigeria seeing increases of 20% and 23% respectively, and South Africa experiencing a 14% increase.
“The past 12-months have highlighted how hackers are refocusing their efforts to compromise consumer and corporate systems and gain access to critical data and information,” said Bethwel Opil, Enterprise Sales Manager at Kaspersky in Africa.
Opil emphasized the importance of proactive malware protection, stating, “Malware can get onto a device in several ways. For example, clicking on an infected link or advert, opening an attachment in a spam email, or downloading a compromised app. This means proactive malware protection is essential to safeguard individual users and corporates against these threats.”
