Headache as cyber security threats hit a record high in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.

By Samuel Ouma

Liquid Intelligent Technologies 2021 Cyber Security Report has announced an increase in Cyber Security threats in business organizations in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa as employees continue to work from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a virtual press conference on Wednesday, September 1, 2021, researchers said managing user access to information, data loss and recovery, visibility and control of data, and compliance challenges remain some of the biggest problems for organizations.

The research noted that data extortion, data leakage, and data disclosure constitute almost 71% of the cyber-attacks for Kenyan businesses, and over 70% of South African and Zimbabwean organizations consider email attacks like Phishing the most prominent digital threats.

Respondents from the research also indicated an increased consumption of Cloud-based services this year, with the numbers as high as 96% in South Africa, 95% in Kenya, and 75% in Zimbabwe.  This is attributed to the rise of Microsoft Office 365, Teams, Zoom, Google Workspace, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services.

Some of the biggest security concerns cited by businesses using Cloud services are managing user access to information, data loss, recovery, and lack of security controls made available by Cloud providers.

The report states that more than 90 percent of IT decision-makers across the three countries have resorted to increasing cyber security as the workforce shifts to digital platforms.

“The result of our research confirms that Cyber Security should be at the centre of every business conversation and emphasises the need to establish an appropriate Cyber Security Framework that matches the business environment. Critically, the framework must look beyond technical security controls to include information security management covering governance, risk, compliance, people, processes and technology,” said Ignus de Villiers, Group Head of Cyber Security, Liquid Intelligent Technologies.

The research also pointed out Email attacks, Web-based attacks, Social Engineering, Malware, Ransomware, and Data Breaches to be the top concerns around Cyber Security in 2021.