Cases of cyber attacks increased in 2021

One in every 61 organizations globally was impacted by a ransomware attack each week with those in Africa experiencing the highest number of attacks in 2021 across five surveyed regions. 

According to a report by global IT security firm Check Point software technologies, across Africa, the average number of cyber-attacks increased by 13 percent in 2021.

Kenya faced the second highest number of cyber-attacks in Africa after Nigeria with 32.8 million attacks in the first six months of 2021 indicating that the country is increasingly targeted as internet penetration and internet device availability grows. 

This is according to the Communications Authority of Kenya.

Statistics from Check Point Technologies further shows that organizations in Africa continue being hardest hit, with the region suffering the second-highest volume of cyber-attacks last year, at an average of 1 353 weekly attacks per organization, followed by Latin America with 1 118 weekly attacks per organization. 

The final two regions of Europe and North America recorded the least cybercrime with 670 and 503 weekly attacks per organization respectively.

The report states that the education sector experienced the highest number of cyber attacks with an average of 1,605 attacks per organization weekly, an increase of 75 percent from 2020. 

The government and military sectors had 1,136 attacks per week, a 47 per cent increase, followed by the communication industry that had 1,079 attacks weekly per, a 51 percent increase. 

However, experts say to safeguard against these constant attacks, organizations should seek a single solution that can cover all attack surfaces and vectors as well as apply security patches. 

Organisations should ensure up-to-date and maintaining security patches across all systems and software. Segment and apply strong firewall and IPS safeguards between the network segments.

Enhance user awareness. 

Currently, organizations grapple with cost implications related to cyber security as cyber criminals become more sophisticated in their approach.