Global security solution company, Kaspersky, reported huge cases of malware attacks in 2020.
The report shows that Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya collectively recorded over 28 million malware attacks.
Also, there were about 102 million Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUA) detected across the countries.
The report showcases cyber attacks that took place within the first seven months of 2020.
Interestingly, we still have at least three months to the end of the year.
Breakdown of the cyber attacks
Kenya got the biggest hit during the seven months under review (January – July 2020).
The country recorded about 14 million malware attacks, and 41 million detected PUA.
Kaspersky: Kenyan cyberattack in 2020
SA followed through with almost 10 million malware attacks, and 43 million detected PUA.
Nigeria, however, recorded the least malware attacks put at a total of 3.8 million.
Kaspersky: South Africa cyberattack in 2020
On the other hand, the country saw a high attempted PUA, placed at 16 million.
The percentage of MA in Nigeria, SA, and Kenya stalls at 14%, 36%, and 50% respectively.
Kaspersky: Nigeria cyber attack in 2020
Also, percentage PUA across the countries stands at 16.5%, 43.8%, and 40.2%, respectively.
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Intensifying PUA attacks
Going by Kaspersky’s report, the increasingly wide-spread of PUA is becoming alarming.
More so, unlike traditional malware, the reported PUAs are more potential.
As such, they pose more threats and are more reoccurring than conventional malware.
The research carried out in Africa shows that PUAs attack users 4X more often than traditional malware.
For starters, PUAs generally target the user experience (UX) on mobile devices.
They penetrate your device as ‘Adwares’ – unwanted Ads and sometimes force you to download unwillingly.
The high rates of PUAs recorded across the countries indicate that it’s growing more popular.
‘Grey zone’ impact
According to the research, ‘grey zone’ are tougher malware programs to deal with.
It could even pose more threats because they are harder to notice initially.
Also, if eventually, you find out about them, “its creators won’t be considered as cybercriminals.”
Consequently, there has been an increase in its popularity, leading to further cyber attacks.
The worst scenario is that mobile users may be unaware that they install such programs.
Should this happen, users are often exploited by cyber attackers who use the program as camouflage.
It is, however, advisable to use tools like Kaspersky to spot and eliminate these malware programs.
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In conclusion
Even the smartest of IT experts are prone to malware attacks.
Regardless of how vulnerable you may be, it is essential to stay vigilant.
Also, the ongoing pandemic has further fueled the impact of a cyber-attack.
It is projected that more attacks will be recorded during the ongoing year.
What’s your thought on the increasing rate of cyber-attacks?
Kindly share your opinion with us in the comments sections.
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