Malware in Africa
Malware That Can Take Over Computers is Skyrocketing in Africa
Sourced from Tech Advisor According to data collected by Russia-based cybersecurity provider Kaspersky, the number of backdoor computer malware detected in Q2 2022 for corporate users in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria has significantly increased compared to the previous quarter. Currently, numbers are hitting new records and posing challenges to cybersecurity professionals in enterprise and government agencies. “Backdoors enable a series of long unnoticed cyberespionage campaigns, which result in significant financial or reputational losses and may disrupt the victim organisation’s operations. Corporate systems should be constantly audited and carefully monitored for hidden threats,” comments Dr Amin Hasbini, Head of Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT), Middle East, Türkiye and Afri...
Mobile Malware Attacks Across Africa are on the Decline – Why It Isn’t a Good Thing
Image sourced from Sectigo. While analysing the threat landscape of African countries, Kaspersky experts saw a steady decline in attacks on mobile devices in the region, as cybercriminals consolidated their efforts to focus on more complicated, dangerous and profitable threats instead. These and other findings are featured in Kaspersky’s Mobile Threats in 2021 report. Overall, in 2021, South African users faced 38% less mobile malware attacks than in 2020, while other countries in the region have seen even more dramatic changes of their mobile threat landscape: Mozambique saw a 48% decrease, followed by Botswana (58%), Nigeria (59%), Ethiopia (69%) and Ghana (76%). The only countries where the share of attacks increased was Angola, where mobile malware actually grew by 12%. “Indeed, there ...
South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria Suffer 28 Million Malware Attacks
Sourced from IDG Connect More than 28 million malware attacks have been recorded in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria so far this year, according to research from Kaspersky, as well as 102 million detections of ‘grey zone’ software or potentially unwanted programs (PUAs). PUAs are programs that are usually not considered to be malicious by themselves. However, they are generally influencing user experience in a negative way. For instance, adware fills user device with ads; aggressive monetising software propagates unrequested paid offers; downloaders may download even more various applications on the device, sometimes malicious ones. While calculating interim results of threat landscape activity in African countries, the researchers noticed that PUAs attack users almost four times more often...
