Cyber threats in Kenya are increasing in frequency and magnitude

New research from Kenya’s Communications Authority (CA) has indicated that the increasingly digitalising business environment in Kenya is suffering from a boom in cyber attacks. According to Serianu Consulting, the Kenyan economy has dealt with nearly Sh 30 billion in losses from cyber threats and attacks.

The CA research revealed that firms in Kenya have had to contend with more that 11 million cyber threats in just the first three months of this year, which represents a quarterly increase of 10% in the number of cyber threats. These threats come in the form of malware, online abuse and web application assaults.

The data comes on the back of a number of reports recently that highlight the cybersecurity problem in Kenya. The economy is digitalising at a rapid rate, which has led to the emergence of a number of online users who are relatively vulnerable to the plethora of online threats.

Kenya’s Fintech economy is amongst the strongest in Africa, but is increasingly susceptible to cyber attacks as individuals try to access the vast repositories of online data. As a result, the investment levels in cybersecurity have gone up across the country. Serianu has been a prominent facilitator of cybersecurity measures.

The firm established a Cyber Immersion Centre in Nairobi last year, with the specific objective of allowing new firms to develop and experiment with new cybersecurity measures. The centre also features an education and training centre for firms looking to enhance their knowledge of cyber threats.

“As local organisations increase investments in cyber security, it is becoming vital for them to also create awareness about these threats among their employees to ensure that they are able to notice some them,” explained Sebuh Haileleul, Country General Manager for Microsoft in East Africa.

As a result, a number of firms have become increasingly vocal about their recommendations surrounding cybersecurity. The broad consensus amongst these experts appears to be that the response to a cyber attack is an increasingly crucial aspect of a firm’s cybersecurity infrastructure, given that substantial damage can be controlled at this stage.