Surge In African Cybercrime Activities And How Businesses Can Survive

Startups face many challenges; the biggest one is cyber attacks. On top of this, customers' faith gets startled too, and they start thinking that their data is not safe too. It is super bad for any new business. So, strong cybersecurity for startups is critical for everyone.

As a startup founder, you may not have the same resources as larger companies, but that doesn't mean you're exempt from cyber threats. Startups are often more vulnerable to attack than established businesses because they typically don't have the same level of security measures in place.

African Startups businesses face a vast cybercrime threat at the rapid digitalization expansion. Cybercrime experts have predicted Africa's digital economy to reach $180bn a year by mid-2025, but it seems like inadequate efforts to block cybercrime have hindered this growth.

Phishing attacks detected in the region are on a spree. According to a Kaspersky analysis, over the last three months, Kenya and South Africa's phishing cases have risen to 438% and 4,578,216, respectively, adding more than 144% to the previous data.

Phishing cases are due to a fast-evolving array of digital threats from espionage, critical infrastructure sabotage, organized crime, and combat innovation.

According to investmentmonitor.ai, African governments and corporations face the prospect of investing hugely in digital security as cyberattacks become the norm and internet traffic doubles every 18 months.

Mr. Adrew Mori, CEO of Deimos, at the just-ended Africa Money and Defi Summit West Africa, held in Accra, Ghana, shared a presentation under the theme "Rising Cybercrime in Africa: What is happening and what to do about it." He said businesses must start focusing on continuous monitoring of cloud-native environments, which entails companies educating their employees about the dangers of social engineering and how to defend against it.