Africa’s energy and utilities sector was the most targeted by cyber criminals in August, highlighting growing risks to critical infrastructure across the continent.
According to Check Point Research, financial services and government institutions were also among the sectors facing the most cyber attacks. Globally, organisations recorded an average of 2,422 attacks per week, up 4% from July and 22% year on year.
Attack levels were significantly higher in several African markets. Angola recorded 5,416 attacks per organisation per week, followed by Nigeria at 4,906 and Kenya at 3,658. South Africa recorded 2,086 attacks per organisation per week.
Check Point said ransomware, phishing and the growing use of generative AI are creating additional security challenges for businesses.
AI Creates Another Security Risk
The report found that employees are using AI tools more frequently, with the average enterprise user generating 106 prompts in August, up from 95 in July.
Although high-risk prompts fell to one in every 43 prompts, 86% of organisations regularly using GenAI were affected by high-risk prompt activity.
The concern is that employees may enter sensitive business information into AI tools without adequate controls.
Ransomware Nearly Doubles
Ransomware attacks also accelerated, with 1,042 reported attacks in August — almost double the number recorded during the same month last year.
Business services accounted for the largest share of reported ransomware victims, followed by industrial manufacturing and consumer goods and services. Qilin was the most active ransomware group, accounting for 15% of published attacks.
Check Point says businesses need to move beyond simply reacting to attacks and strengthen prevention across their digital systems as cyber threats become more widespread and sophisticated.
Main Image: ESI-Africa
