5 top cybersecurity predictions for African businesses in 2023

24 Jan 2023

Cybersecurity is becoming a big concern affecting both SMEs and major tech companies, and as long as the tech ecosystem in Africa keeps booming, cybersecurity threats will keep growing.

Source: Supplied. Jaco Nel, chief technology officer of Deimos.

According to the Check Point Research report, African countries experienced an average of 1,848 cyberattacks per week in 2022, which was higher than the rest of the world combined.

Most cyberattacks come from Nigeria, with the highest number of internet users in Africa, followed by South Africa and Kenya.

An Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) report titled The Impact of Cybersecurity on Africa says cybercrime costs Africa $4bn annually. Businesses in Africa should therefore recognise the threats and vulnerabilities posed by cyber-attacks.

It is time for African companies to start preparing cybersecurity resilience plans, priorities, and roadmaps for the new year.

Here are some of the cybersecurity predictions for 2023:

Emergence of new threats: Due to technological advancements, new cyber threats will emerge specifically targeting African countries. It is essential for businesses that rely on in-house engineers to stay up-to-date with best practices and Owasp's (Open Web Application Security Project) top 10.

Increase in ransomware and phishing attacks: Ransomware and phishing attacks (where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as ransomware) are easy techniques for cybercriminals. Many African employees are not trained to identify these attacks, so this will continue to affect Africa for at least the short foreseeable future.

As data laws become stricter, governments will focus more on data compliance: Although Africa has been on the back foot with data laws, with South Africa only implementing Popia in 2021 and Egypt having implemented theirs in 2020, more African countries will start to focus on data sovereignty and data compliance regulations. This means businesses must ensure their technology partners are up-to-date with African laws to avoid large fines and penalties.

Increase in mobile threats: The increasing use of mobile devices in Africa has led to new mobile threats, such as malware and adware, which can compromise a device's security. As Africa’s network distribution continues to grow, so will the mobile-device population and mobile-device cyberattacks, which will continue in 2023.

Businesses employ technology partners: More African companies will realise the benefits of partnering with security experts to secure their operations rather than doing it themselves as big companies become leaner, and start-ups and other businesses adopt the cloud.

About Jaco Nel

Jaco Nel is chief technology officer at Deimos. In this role, Nel is responsible for overseeing the development and cross-functional delivery of Deimos' software portfolio for Deimos and its clients, providing technical guidance and leadership to engineering teams and top management, implementing best practice engineering methods, and examining new trends and technologies.
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