30 Jul Cisco finds African organisations lacking security skills

During the second quarter of 2023, Africa experienced a significant increase in the average number of weekly cyberattacks per organisation, reaching 2,164 attacks.

This represents a 23 percent rise from the same period in 2022.

These findings are from a whitepaper titled ‘Elevating Africa’s Cyber Resilience’, produced by Cisco in collaboration with Access Partnership and the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

The authors of the whitepaper emphasise that cyberattacks in Africa are surpassing the development of effective response mechanisms, such as strong regulatory frameworks and the training of cyber defenders. They also addressed an urgent need for increased cyber resilience to enhance global competitiveness, transform the continent’s economic trajectory, and attract investments.

Despite Africa’s potential to become an economic powerhouse with a projected combined GDP of over $4 trillion by 2027, cybersecurity remains a significant risk.
The study reveals that cybercrime cost Africa over 10 per cent of its GDP in 2021, resulting in roughly $4.12 billion in losses.

Globally, 2023 saw more than 2,800 publicly disclosed data breaches, involving the theft of over 8.2 billion records.

When analysing the overall cybersecurity readiness of over 8,000 businesses across 30 global markets, Cisco’s Index found that only 3 per cent of respondent organisations fell into the “Mature (ready)” category.