Business Metrics

Tshidisegang Mosenyegi, Head of Marketing for Middle East and Africa region at Infobip

Infobip Celebrates International Women’s Day, Says 40% of Employees Are Women

As women’s presence continues to grow in technology industries with careers aligned to the personal goals of female professionals, Infobip, a global cloud communications platform has...

Africa Attracts Fresh $50 Billion International Support to Transform Agriculture

Commodities News & Agribusiness2 years ago

Africa Attracts Fresh $50 Billion International Support to Transform Agriculture

By Umar Suleiman Africa’s drive to transform its agriculture and become a breadbasket has continued to receive strong global support, with development partners agreeing to commit...

AfDB Upbeat with Africa’s GDP Growth at 4% in 2023-2024

Economy2 years ago

AfDB Upbeat with Africa’s GDP Growth at 4% in 2023-2024

By Christy Animam The African Development Bank (AfDB) has projected in a new report that Africa economies remain resilient with a stable outlook in 2023-2024, despite...

Smart Devices Users Suffer Over 500m Phishing Attacks in 2022 – Report • 8.7% of African Users Fall Victims Led by S/Africa, Kenya, Nigeria Global cyberbsecurity firm, Kaspersky, has reported that based on its anti-phishing system, it prevented more than 500 million attempts at accessing fraudulent websites globally in 2022. The figure, which is twice more compared to 2021 figures, indicates rising data breaches and cyberattacks via phishing, attacks on users’ devices. In Africa, the firm said in its latest report that 8.7% of individuals and corporate users were affected by phishing and the attacks on their devices were detected and stopped. In South Africa, the share of users affected by phishing stands at 9.7%, followed by Kenya at 8.4% and Nigeria at 7%. Detailed information on the global situation with spam and phishing can be found in Kaspersky’s Spam and Phishing in 2022 report. What the report says: Although spam and phishing attacks are not necessarily complex from a technological standpoint, they rely on sophisticated social engineering tactics, making them highly dangerous to those who are not aware of them. Fraudsters are skilled at creating phishing web pages identical to the original websites that collect private user data or encourage the transfer of money to fraudsters targeting both individuals and organisations. Kaspersky experts discovered that throughout 2022 cybercriminals increasingly turned to phishing. The company’s anti-phishing system successfully blocked 507,851,735 attempts to access fraudulent content globally in 2022, twice the number of attacks thwarted in 2021. The sphere most frequently targeted with phishing attacks was delivery services. Fraudsters send fake emails pretending to be from well-known delivery companies and claim there is an issue with a delivery. The email includes a link to a fake website, which asks for personal information or financial details. If the victim falls for the scam, they could lose their identity and banking information, which may be sold to websites on the dark web. With financial phishing, the most commonly targeted categories were online stores and online financial services. Among the financial phishing attempts in South Africa 15.4% were through websites of fake payment systems, 68.4% through fake online stores and 16.2% through fake online bank portals. Among the financial phishing attempts in Kenya 22.5% were through websites of fake payment systems, 54.9% through fake online stores and 22.6% through fake online bank portals. And among the financial phishing attempts in Nigeria 31.1% were through websites of fake payment systems, 51.2% through fake online stores and 17.8% through fake online bank portals. Meanwhile, Kaspersky experts have also highlighted a global trend in the phishing landscape of 2022 including an increase in the distribution of attacks through messengers, with the majority of blocked attempts coming from WhatsApp, followed by Telegram and Viber. There is also growing demand among cybercriminals for social media credentials, with criminals exploiting people's curiosity and desire for privacy by offering fake updates and verified account status on social media platforms. Moreover, the experts found that cryptocurrency scams and market events, like the pandemic, are still being used by phishing attackers to steal sensitive information from people who are afraid and worried. These scammers are taking advantage of people's fears and concerns to steal their sensitive information. Remarks: Olga Svistunova, security expert at Kaspersky explained that phishing is one of the most prevalent and pernicious threats in the cybersecurity landscape. “Being the gateway to many of the worst cyber threats, phishing pages are the first step in a long chain of events that can result in identity theft, financial loss, and reputational damage for both individual consumers and businesses. It's crucial for everyone to understand the threat and take action to protect themselves,” he said. Advisory to Beat Prowling Attacks In order to avoid becoming a victim of spam or phishing-based scams, Kaspersky experts advise the following: • Only open emails and click links if you are sure you can trust the sender. • When a sender is legitimate, but the content of the message seems strange, it is worth checking with the sender via an alternative communication channel. • Check the spelling of a website’s URL if you suspect that you are faced with a phishing page. If you are, the URL may contain mistakes that are hard to spot at first glance, such as a 1 instead of I or 0 instead of O. • Use a proven security solution when surfing the web. Thanks to access to international threat intelligence sources, these solutions are capable of spotting and blocking spam and phishing campaigns.

Technology2 years ago

Smart Devices Users Suffer Over 500m Attacks in 2022 – Report

7% of African Users Fall Victims Led by S/Africa, Kenya, Nigeria Global cyberbsecurity firm, Kaspersky, has reported that based on its anti-phishing system, it prevented more...

Finance2 years ago

Western Union, MFS Africa Partner to Deliver Global Money Transfers in Africa

By Sandra Orim Africa’s largest payment gateway, MFS Africa, has partnered with Western Union to enable individuals and businesses across the continent to receive money from...

Bola Tinubu Winner of 2023 Presidential Election

News2 years ago

BREAKING: INEC Declares APC’s Bola Tinubu Winner of 2023 Presidential Election

By Umar Suleiman The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Bola Tinubu, the candidate of Nigeria’s ruling party, All Progressive Congress (APC), as the winner...

FG Inaugurates Committee to Protect Cyberspace, ICT Infrastructure During Elections

Technology2 years ago

FG Inaugurates Committee to Protect Cyberspace, ICT Infrastructure During Elections

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Ali Ibrahim Pantami on Thursday inaugurated a committee to advise the Federal Government on appropriate measures to take in...

Technology2 years ago

Bridging the Digital Divide: NCC’s Efforts to Promote Digital Inclusion in Nigeria

By Nuruddeen Sani The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is the regulatory body responsible for overseeing the telecommunications sector in Nigeria. Since the appointment of Prof. Umar...

NCC Dedicates Toll-Free Number 622 as Hotline Presidential Election Incident Hotline

Telecoms2 years ago

NCC Dedicates Toll-Free Number 622 as Hotline Presidential Election Incident Hotline

In view of the importance attached to the upcoming Presidential Election, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has dedicated its Consumer Toll-Free Number 622, to serve as...

STRIKE: Equity Market Records N102BN Loss

Capital Market2 years ago

Stock Investors Lose N281bn in 5 Days Amid Naira Crisis

Stock investors in Nigeria lost N281 billion at the end of the last five-day trading week during which the naira scarcity crisis in Nigeria also deepened...