Nigeria’s cyber threat risk rose in January with the country rising to 11th on the threat index for African countries, according to Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
The cyber security solutions provider noted that eight African countries were listed in the top 20 most attacked in the Global Threat Index for January 2025, which highlighted that FakeUpdates continued to be the major threat actor in the cyber landscape.
Ethiopia continues to hold the top spot as the most attacked country with a 100 percent normalised risk index out of the 109 countries featured in the index. Nigeria has climbed the ranks steadily from 14th in August 2024 to 11th in January 2025, underscoring growing cyber-attacks.
Read also: Cybersecurity Threats and Trends in 2025: A Look Ahead
In 2024, Check Point noted that Nigeria was one of the most vulnerable to attacks on the continent, highlighting a recent incident where a banking trojan attack compromised 100,000 customer accounts, resulting in $3 million in losses.
Other African countries on the top 20 most attacked list include Zimbabwe at 5th place, Angola at 9th, Uganda at 10th, Kenya at 14th, Ghana at 16th, and Mozambique at 17th. South Africa is at 66th position and Egypt is 97th. Most attacked industries include education, government, and telecommunications.
Maya Horowitz, vice president of research at Check Point Software, noted, “AI is transforming the cyber threat landscape, with cyber criminals rapidly evolving their methods, leveraging AI to automate and scale their tactics and enhance their capabilities. To effectively combat these threats, organizations must move beyond traditional defenses and adopt proactive, adaptive AI-powered security measures that anticipate emerging risks.”
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