Kenya’s Cyber Threats Up 16.5 Percent to 1.1bn Amid Rising Risks

Nairobi — Kenya’s total cyberattacks increased by 16.5 percent to 1.1 billion between April and June 2024, up from 971.4 million recorded in the previous quarter (January and March this year).

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According to the latest Communications Authority of Kenya’s (CA’s) Sector Statistics Report, there was a substantial increase in the number of attacks targeting Kenyan firms, underscoring the rising risks in the country’s cybersecurity landscape.

CA attributes the surge to a number of system vulnerability threats, which jumped from 871.2 million to 1.2 billion recorded during the second quarter of the year.

“The total cyber threats detected rose by 16.5 percent from 971.4 million reported in the previous quarter to 1.1 billion recorded in the quarter under reference,” stated CA.

However, CA data reveals reduced malware, brute force attacks, web application, and mobile application attacks during the period under review.

Malware threats reduced from 33.2 million at the end of March 2024 to 31.9 million in June 2024.

Brute force attacks also declined, from 28 million to 26.9 million in the same period, while other detected online risks, including distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, dropped from 38.64 million recorded from January to March 2024 to 7.33 million in June.

Additionally, web application attacks reduced from 199,435 to 146,903 during the review period.

The report further noted a surge in the number of total cyber advisories issued by the CA, which grew to 9.35 million, up from 8.52 million in the review period.

The authority stated that the advisories focused particularly on brute force attacks, web application attacks, and system attacks.

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