Cybersecurity Africa
The Crypto Collapse & Rising DDoS Smart Attacks
Image sourced from Shutterstock. During Q2 2022, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks reached a new level as the share of smart attacks and average duration saw steep increases. Compared to the previous year, the average duration of a DDoS attack rose 100 times, reaching 3,000 minutes. The share of smart attacks almost broke the four-year record, accounting for nearly 50% of the total. Experts also expect an increase in overall DDoS activity, especially with the recent collapse of cryptocurrency. These and other findings are part of a quarterly DDoS report issued by Kaspersky. A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is designed to hinder the normal functioning of a website or crash it completely. During an attack (which usually targets government institutions, retail or ...
Phising Scams Surge 234% in Africa, Especially in Tech Powerhouses
Image sourced from NorthJersey.com New data from Russia-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky reveals that the prevalence of phishing and social engineering scams has increased significantly in Africa in Q2 2022 in comparison with the previous quarter. The company’s security solutions detected 10,722,886 phishing attacks in Africa in Q2, showing a 234% increase from the previous quarter. Tech powerhouses across Africa have seen the highest amount of growth in scams. Kenyan users have been influenced the most by this type of threat: there were 5,098,534 phishing attacks detected in 3 months – a growth of 438% when compared to the previous quarter. It was followed by South Africa (4,578,216 detections and a growth of 144%) and Nigeria (1,046,136 detections and a growth of 174%). In particular, ...
Talking Public Sector Cybersecurity with Nclose – ITNA Digital Innovation Podcast EP 6
This week’s podcast is sponsored by the Public Sector Cybersecurity Summit held on the 2nd and 3rd of August 2022. This virtual event will have all the information you and your public organisation will need to prepare yourself for the next coming cyber-attack. Don’t be caught unawares – the attack is coming, and African enterprises will be prized targets – prepare yourself now before it’s too late. Register for #PubliSec2022 and learn from a host of cybersecurity experts on how to protect your organisation from the worst threat actors out there. In this episode of IT News Africa‘s Digital Innovation Podcast, Luis Monzon chats with Stephen Osler, co-founder and business development director of South African cybersecurity firm Nclose. Stephen and Luis talk about cybersecurity in the public s...
Is Nigeria Facing a Phishing Epidemic?
Sourced from Pure Cloud Solutions According to a new Digital Payment survey from Russia-based cybersecurity group Kaspersky, a staggering 61% of respondents from Nigeria said they faced phishing scams when using online banking or mobile wallet services. 67% have personally encountered fake websites, and a massive 82% experienced scams (via texts or calls) using social engineering. When asked about awareness of threats against digital payment methods, the majority of respondents from Nigeria report that they are aware of both the financial phishing attacks (95%) and online scams (97%). 78% also stated that they are informed about banking malware on PCs and on mobile. This type of malicious software steals money from users’ bank accounts. However, 98% think that banks and payment companies s...
Sophos Announces Sophos X-Ops
Image sourced from Australian Reseller News. Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, today announced Sophos X-Ops, a new cross-operational unit linking SophosLabs, Sophos SecOps and Sophos AI, three established teams of cybersecurity experts at Sophos, to help organizations better defend against constantly changing and increasingly complex cyberattacks. Sophos X-Ops leverages the predictive, real-time, real-world, and deeply researched threat intelligence from each group, which, in turn, collaborate to deliver stronger, more innovative protection, detection and response capabilities. Sophos today is also issuing “OODA: Sophos X-Ops Takes on Burgeoning SQL Server Attacks,” research about increased attacks against unpatched Microsoft SQL servers and how attackers used a fak...
Cassava Wins $50-Million Investment for Africa’s Cybersecurity
The Cassava and C5 Team. African integrated tech firm, Cassava Technologies, today announced that it has secured a $50-million investment from C5 Capital (C5), a specialist venture capital firm that invests in cyber security, space, and energy security. The investment is part of a broader funding round to accelerate Cassava’s growth. The investment by C5 will contribute to the acceleration of the work that Cassava has undertaken to increase digital connectivity and inclusion on the continent. As part of the investment plan, Cassava will be the go-to-market partner in Africa for C5’s cutting-edge portfolio companies to deliver best-in-class cyber security, satellite and space technology and clean energy. C5 and Cassava already announced a joint venture through which Haven Cyber, a C5 portfo...
Is Hacking Humans Easier Than Machines?
Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa. When it comes to cybersecurity, technology is not enough. Yes, it is the foundation. But it is not enough to mitigate the growing threat of cybercrime. The reality is that, even with best-in-class security systems, firewalls, endpoint protections and zero-trust frameworks, without a robust and agile culture of security, the business is at risk. The Dark Reading 2021 Strategic Security Survey found that around 48% of security professionals believe that users breaking policy are likely to be the single biggest cause of a major breach in the future. This sentiment is echoed in a ITWeb and KnowBe4 study that examined cybersecurity culture and the impact of this on the South African organisation. “Having a robust cyber...
Exclusive Networks Partners with the International Chamber of Commerce Trade
Exclusive Networks, a global trusted cybersecurity specialist for digital infrastructure, today announced it has signed a partnership agreement with the ICC’s Trade for prosperity initiative to become the cybersecurity partner of choice for its new global awareness programme aimed at its 45 million-member organisations. As part of the programme, Exclusive Networks will provide specialist cybersecurity expertise and knowledge to CEOs and business leaders of some of the world’s fastest-growing companies, helping to guide and educate business heads as to what they need to know, what they need to do and who can provide the products and services to help them safeguard their businesses against growing cyber threats as they navigate the uncharted waters ahead and return to sustainable growth and ...
Exclusive Networks Partners with the International Chamber of Commerce Trade
Exclusive Networks, a global trusted cybersecurity specialist for digital infrastructure, today announced it has signed a partnership agreement with the ICC’s Trade for prosperity initiative to become the cybersecurity partner of choice for its new global awareness programme aimed at its 45 million-member organisations. As part of the programme, Exclusive Networks will provide specialist cybersecurity expertise and knowledge to CEOs and business leaders of some of the world’s fastest-growing companies, helping to guide and educate business heads as to what they need to know, what they need to do and who can provide the products and services to help them safeguard their businesses against growing cyber threats as they navigate the uncharted waters ahead and return to sustainable growth and ...
The Great Phishing Fail
Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa. In 2021, phishing attacks increased by 7.3% according to the ESET Threat Report, and the Cisco 2021 Cybersecurity threat trends report revealed that around 86% of organisations had at least one person click a phishing link. This echoes the findings of recent KnowBe4 Security Awareness Research that found people keep clicking – on fake emails from HR, the business and IT. As Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa, points out, the majority of top email categories that people fall for are those that fit in to everyday life – invoices, purchase orders, shared files, and COVID-19 related topics. “As our quarterly report on the top-clicked phishing tests shows, the emails that catch people are t...
How the Russia-Ukraine War Could Affect Cybercrime
Image sourced from Packetlabs. Russia’s war on Ukraine and its increasingly isolated internet environment could drive Russian cybercriminals to think outside the box and launch new forms of cyber attacks. This is according to Nclose’s Co-Founder & Technical Director, Martin Potgieter, who says speculation and concern is mounting around the world, over what Russia’s cyber crime syndicates’ next moves will be. “Currently, the cybercrime focus appears to be predominantly between Russia and Ukraine cybercrime groups and governments. While this is strictly speaking cyber warfare, it could quickly spread elsewhere. “What we are seeing is that a few of these cybercrime groups are either taking sides or imploding amongst themselves due to their Eastern European links with one another,” says Po...
These Are the Cyber Dangers Still Faced by SA’s SMEs
Image sourced from Pixabay Internet security provider Kaspersky says that small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other small businesses in South Africa are still facing many threats from cyber criminals and threat actors. What’s worse is that many small business owners do not use or believe it important to use cybersecurity services to secure their businesses. As commerce is moving ever continually online, this disregard for IT security continues to be exploited by cybercriminals. Kaspersky researchers assessed the dynamics of attacks on small and medium-sized businesses between January and April 2022 and the same period in 2021, to identify which threats pose an increasing danger to entrepreneurs. Cyber Threats Still Being Faced by SMEs in South Africa: In 2022, the number of Trojan...
