19 Aug Africa increases its ranking on the global cyber attack index

African countries are increasingly joining the list of the most cyber attacks globally.

According to Check Point Software Technologies’ Global Threat Index for July 2024, fifteen African countries are featured on the list, indicating a rising threat to the continent.

The research covers 112 countries and measures the gap between a country’s cybersecurity posture and its level of vulnerability or risk of attack.

Check Point found that:

• Ethiopia is the highest-ranking country among all surveyed countries.
• Zimbabwe came in as the third most attacked country globally.
• Nigeria placed 19th globally.

The top issues Africa faces include FakeUpdates (SocGholish), Remcos, Qbot, Phorpiex and Vidar.

Check Point noted that Kenya and Ghana also experienced significant increases, ranking 11th and 15th, respectively.

Maya Horowitz, VP of research at Check Point Software, explained that the rise of malware like Remcos highlights the opportunistic nature of cyber criminals.

To counter this, he urged organisations in Africa to adopt strong endpoint protection, monitoring, and user education.