We may sound like a broken record when we say cyberattacks are a growing threat across Africa, but the numbers don’t lie.
South Africa alone—the most targeted African country—accounted for 22% of all attacks on the continent between Q1 2023 and Q3 2024. Egypt suffered 13% of these attacks, while Nigeria and Algeria remain key targets for hackers.
On the dark web, South Africa dominated mentions, accounting for 25% of all forum posts, showing a sustained interest from cybercriminals.
These details are contained in a report by cybersecurity firm Positive Technologies. Per the report, government entities and financial institutions were prime targets for cyberattacks, with 22% of these attacks being successful.
In 2024 alone, South Africa’s public diagnostic provider, trade commission, and intellectual property records were all breached in separate cyberattacks.
Hackers employed advanced persistent threats (APTs) which involve lurking around an organisation’s data hierarchy and remaining undetected for a long time.
These complex hacks have hit South Africa hard in the last few years. In July 2024, South Africa’s public works minister Dean Macpherson revealed that the country has lost R300 billion ($16.5 million) through cyberattacks in the last decade.
Another disturbing revelation from the report is how hackers are forming colonies on the dark web. This allows them to share data of African government entities among themselves for free. They also sell access to company networks for around $2,970 (R53,784).
Hackers are also targeting Africa’s industrial and telecom sectors—especially telcos—trying to steal sensitive information they use to do more damage on other fronts.
In 2023, Nigeria’s Globacom suffered a DDoS attack which left employees unable to access company systems for weeks. In September 2024, South Africa’s Telkom suffered a data breach.
The real danger is how these bad actors share data for free as if one is rooting for the other to succeed. If companies are learning to fly without perching, these bad actors are learning to shoot without missing.
