Africans still have plenty to learn about cybersecurity, new report finds

Many Nigerians have received frequent text messages stating the Central Bank of Nigeria is “offering” N50,000 as part of an empowerment fund. All they need to do is “click” a seemingly harmless link, and voila! The money supposedly gets transferred into their account. 

Or how about the popular trick whereby an individual is told over the phone that their bank account will be suspended soon unless something is done? For clarity, that “something” means the person must supply their bank verification number to the caller.

For the unaware, the above scenarios depict the daily reality of Nigerians facing diverse schemes to defraud them of their money.

Social media is often awash with stories of people getting defrauded because they divulged sensitive information to someone who pretended to be their bank account officer. Sometimes, it’s easy to accuse the victim of greed. Why click a link offering N50,000 when you didn’t exactly register for any empowerment program? But then, it’s worth noting that not many people are aware of cyber fraud. 

Words like phishing and malware typically fly over the head of the average person. And it’s not just Nigeria. There’s a dearth of cybersecurity awareness in Kenya, South Africa, and the rest of the continent. This isn’t an isolated claim. 

A report by KnowBe4, a company dedicated to information security, dove deep into the state of cybersecurity in Africa. The goal was to spotlight the weaknesses African individuals and organizations deserved to know about so they could stand a better chance of preventing cyber attacks. Heads up: the findings aren’t great. 

Zooming into the survey results 

Before diving into the findings, let us have a look at the research methodology.  KnowBe4 stated that it surveyed 800 citizens across many African countries including Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria. Interestingly,  it said the results were no different from its endeavour in 2021. 

Here are some of the results from the 2022 study. 21% of the respondents claimed they had been scammed over the phone. 51% had suffered a malware attack. 29% revealed that they were concerned about cybercrime. Truthfully, one would have expected that percentage to be higher, but then again, ignorance has continued to be a mainstay of this region. 

KnowBe4 further asked the respondents to state the devices they frequently used. 97% said they used smartphones, 74% said laptops. 47% said they have a smart TV while 31% used a tablet. Perhaps the most controversial fact in this segment is that just 8% said they used feature phones. 

Unlike smartphones, feature phones can solely perform basic functions like making calls and sending messages. Despite the advent of smartphones, they are still a hit with Africans, particularly those in rural areas or low-income areas. Corroborating this claim is a study conducted by Statista that said more than half of the 40-50 million phones shipped to Africa were feature phones. 

Read also: How operators can use AI to fight against telecoms fraud

Why Africans should increase their cybersecurity awareness 

On the state of cybersecurity awareness in Africa, seasoned information security executive Funsho Richard said the lack of knowledge had a significant impact on both businesses and individuals in the continent. 

“Cybercrime is costing Africa $4 billion annually. Companies are being hurt beyond their financials, which can lead to data loss, theft of intellectual property and financial and/or personal information, and damage to brand and reputation.

Cybercriminals extort governments and disrupt their infrastructures. Individuals can lose their livelihoods, sensitive personal information or become a victim of impersonation and social engineering.” he expounded. 

Beyond knowing about cybercrime, it is necessary to be aware of the best ways to tackle them. Richard asserted that cybersecurity was vital to businesses and individuals, adding that it would help them secure assets like emails, financial data, and passwords from criminals. 

He further stated that people should be careful and “take necessary precautions like using strong passwords.” He also advised people to be vigilant to avoid clicking on suspicious links to download images or documents from unknown senders. Although Gmail typically sends such messages to the Spam folder, people should maintain a healthy level of security consciousness to be on the safe side.