Sh30B Lost As Cyber Attacks Rises To 11M In The First Quarter In Kenya

Kenyan organizations have recorded an increase in viscous cyber attacks.

According to Communications Authority of Kenya, local organizations were hit by 11.2 million cyber threats.

This records a 10.1 percent increase in the number of incidences in the first quarter of 2019 when compared to the previous quarter.

According to Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) data, its incident response centre detected growing cases of malware, web application attacks, system misconfiguration and mostly online abuse.

In past 3 months, CA’s cyber sleuth team issued 14,078 cyber threat advisories to the affected organisations.

Late quarter of 2018, the cyber security team from CA issue 12,138.

A cyber fraud report conducted by Serianu Cyber security tech consultancy reveals that cyber attacks costed Kenya’s economy Sh29.5 billion.

Increased Cyber threats has forced firms, especially in the financial sector that is affected the most, to be vigilant and created businesses opportunities for others.

For instance, Safaricom #ticker:SCOM in January launched a cybersecurity solution targeted at Kenyan firms looking to protect their ICT systems.

Microsoft are also interest in partnering with local companies to assist in securing their infrastructure.

Microsoft Corp is set to launch a $100 million technology development center in Nairobi, Kenya .

Microsoft’s independent report indicated that ransomware, a malicious software that blocks a user’s access to gadgets until a payment is made, is the popular method used by cyber criminals this year.

“As local organisations increase investments in cyber security, it is becoming vital for them to also create awareness about these threats among their employees to ensure that they are able to notice some them,” reads part of Sebuh Haileleul report.

Sebuh Haileleul is Kenya’s General Manager for Microsoft, East Africa.

Polish cyber security firm, OnNet tech Services had warned Barclay’s Kenya and other financial institutions via a tweet published on 17th of April, stating that ‘SILENTCARDS’ group of hackers were planning to hack into their ATMs.

OnNet services had also published on their blog a fortnight ago that they believe the hacking malware threat from SilentCards is still active in many other institutions.