Data Reveals 66% of Kenyan Staff Are Working from Home

Liquid Intelligent Technologies has announced key research findings of the evolving nature of the cybersecurity space in Africa.

The findings are based vast assessment of data and collaborations with IT and cybersecurity decision-makers in Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The partnership was explored to understand the changing threat landscape, and how it is affecting business.

Similar to other cybersecurity findings, the report reveals that there is a notable jump in both the frequency and sophistication of cybercrime. This is not a surprise, because while cybersecurity would want to stir fear among businesses and users so they can buy their protection products, the online space is becoming riskier with time, and intrusions are becoming complex.

According to Liquid, Businesses in Africa are regarded to be more vulnerable to cybercrime as it is estimated that more than half of the countries in Africa have inadequate safeguards, Cyber Security laws, and regulations, making it a haven for cybercriminals.

Here are some of the key findings in Kenya:

Business tendencies

1. 95 percent of Kenyan businesses use cloud-based services
2. 78 percent of Kenyan businesses have experienced an increase in cybersecurity threats
3. 66 percent of Kenyan staff are working from home

Top of mind

98 percent of Kenyan IT decision-makers said their company has an increased focus on cybersecurity.

Biggest cybersecurity threats to businesses

71 percent of Kenyan businesses said that it was data breach (data extortion, data leakage, data disclosure).

Top four concerns around cybersecurity in 2021

1. Data breach
2. Malware, including ransomware
3. Email attacks
4. Web application/web-based attacks

Top three security concerns around cloud-based services

1. 74 percent – managing user access to information
2. 62 percent – lack of security controls made available by cloud provider
3. 59 percent – data loss and recovery

Other metrics:

Over 90% of IT decision-makers across South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe have accelerated their Cyber Security due to the substantial emergence of digital ways of working.

A critical insight from the research suggests that 79% of businesses from all three countries attribute an increase in Cyber Security threats to the advent of remote working.

Data breaches like 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. 

The participants from the research also indicated an increased consumption of Cloud-based services this year, with the numbers being as high as 96% in South Africa, 95% in Kenya, and 75% in Zimbabwe. This comes from a jump in Microsoft Office 365, Teams, Zoom, Google Workspace, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services.

The result of our research confirms that Cyber Security should be at the centre of every business conversation and emphasizes 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. – Ignus de Villiers, Group Head of Cyber Security, Liquid Intelligent Technologies