The day to day activities of Kenyans are more integrated with technology. As this happens, the number of cybersecurity threats also rises.
The Communication Authority (CA) plays a key role in monitoring, detecting and offering deterrents against cybersecurity threats. Recently, the authority issued a warning to the public about the return of Wangiri Scam.
Based on the latest reports from Q3 FY 22/23, Kenyans faced significant cyber threats. In total, 187,757, 659 cyber threats were detected. Additionally, the authority issued a total of 3,584,966 cybersecurity advisories.
Cybersecurity advisories are notifications of significant new trends or developments regarding the threat different technologies and systems face. This alert may include analytical insights into trends, intentions, technologies, or tactics of attackers.
Cybersecurity Threats Breakdown
During the period referenced, 26, 400, 530 Malware threats were detected. This represented the biggest share of threats Kenyans faced in the digital space. As a result, the authority issued 69,164 advisories on Malware threats.
Based on the Global Threat Index for May 2023, Qbot was the most prevalent malware in Kenya. The Malware had an impact of 23.03%.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) were also detected and came in second. These are cybercrime attacks where a server is overwhelmed with traffic. Hence, users are prevented from accessing connected online services and sites.
In total, 7,613,124 DDOS threats were detected with 14,888 advisories issued in Q3.
Kenyans online faced 128,514 web application attacks during the same period. Additionally, the authority detected 153,615, 491 system vulnerabilities.
System vulnerabilities are flaws in the system. These flaws in system weaken the security of the system. Thus, the system is vulnerable to different cyber threats.
The authority issued 3,479,886 advisories on system vulnerabilities in Q3.
The data is compiled by the National Kenya Computer Incident Response Team – Coordination Centre (National KE-CIRT/CC). The multi-agency team is responsible for the national coordination of cyber security.
It serves as Kenya’s national point of contact on cyber security matters.
