ADVERTISEMENT
TechEconomy
Sunday, June 1, 2025
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Tech
    • DisruptiveTECH
    • ConsumerTech
      • Accessories
      • Phones
      • Laptop
      • Gadgets and Appliances
      • Apps
    • How To
    • TechTAINMENT
  • Business
    • Telecoms
      • Broadband
    • Mobility
    • Environment
    • Travel
    • Commerce
    • StartUPs
    • TE Insights
    • Security
  • Partners
  • Economy
    • Finance
    • Fintech
    • Digital Assets
    • Personal Finance
    • Insurance
  • Features
    • IndustryINFLUENCERS
    • Guest Writer
    • Appointment
    • EventDIARY
    • Editorial
  • Apply
  • TecheconomyTV
  • Techeconomy Events
  • BusinesSENSE For SMEs
  • TBS
  • News
  • Tech
    • DisruptiveTECH
    • ConsumerTech
      • Accessories
      • Phones
      • Laptop
      • Gadgets and Appliances
      • Apps
    • How To
    • TechTAINMENT
  • Business
    • Telecoms
      • Broadband
    • Mobility
    • Environment
    • Travel
    • Commerce
    • StartUPs
    • TE Insights
    • Security
  • Partners
  • Economy
    • Finance
    • Fintech
    • Digital Assets
    • Personal Finance
    • Insurance
  • Features
    • IndustryINFLUENCERS
    • Guest Writer
    • Appointment
    • EventDIARY
    • Editorial
  • Apply
  • TecheconomyTV
  • Techeconomy Events
  • BusinesSENSE For SMEs
  • TBS
No Result
View All Result
Tech | Business | Economy
No Result
View All Result
Podcast

Home » The African Challenge: Cybersecurity Awareness on the Continent

The African Challenge: Cybersecurity Awareness on the Continent

Yinka Okeowo by Yinka Okeowo
February 16, 2022
in Security
0

RelatedPosts

Cyberdefence SensePost

SensePost debuts SecDevOps: A developer-oriented Security Training Course

May 29, 2025

Check Point to Acquire Veriti Cybersecurity

May 28, 2025

The challenge is that people are still taking unnecessary risks, in spite of their growing awareness and understanding of cybercrime

The 2021 KnowBe4 African Cyberthreat Report focused on key metrics around cybersecurity awareness and behaviours to gain a holistic view of the continent’s cyber stance and how users perceived the threats.

Key findings:

  • The pandemic is still playing a major role in influencing working behaviours and patterns.
  • Only 38% of respondents have returned to their offices or are accessing the internet from their office network;
  • 55% continue to work from home;
  • 32% of respondents were affected by cybercrime while working from home, and one-third (33%) of the attacks were social engineering;
  • The number of people concerned about cybercrime has risen to 72%.

Collating insights from 763 respondents across South Africa, Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mauritius and Nigeria, the report highlights some of the gaps that remain in security awareness in spite of the risks posed by the pandemic and the evolution of hybrid working frameworks.

“The pandemic remains a central issue for most users when it comes to how they plan to work and live in the future,” says Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist KnowBe4 Africa. “This year, nearly 55% plan to continue working from home. Respondents are increasingly concerned about the risk of cybercrime at 72%, however, the trend this year has been an increase in overall security confidence, which is not necessarily earned. People think they know more than they do and this is causing issues.”

The challenge is that people are still taking unnecessary risks, in spite of their growing awareness and understanding of cybercrime. Around 10% are very likely to share their personal information and 54% will trust an email from someone they know, even though 36% have fallen for a phishing email and 55% have had a malware infection.

These numbers are up from 2020, and are compounded by the fact that most users believe that they can confidently identify a security incident (44%) but only 46% could accurately identify ransomware – a small drop from 2020 at 47%.

The concern is that more than 30% of users do not know what two-factor authentication is, 40% are not using a secure password – 20% believed that P@$$word! was a strong password – and yet 63% use their mobile devices to do payments or banking. They are putting themselves at risk with poor password hygiene and limited security controls.

“Email remains one of the biggest security threats,” says Collard. “People are still very trusting of emails they have received from people they know (54%, up 2% from 2020), even though those email accounts could have been impersonated or hacked. There is definite need to educate people around the rising social engineering threats around emails, social media, chat apps and the phone (vishing).

The report found that while people are paying more attention to security, they are still falling prey to scams and attacks that they could have avoided. From social engineering to investment scams, the threats are gaining ground. Considering that around 34% have lost money because they fell victim to a scam, and 26% have experienced a social engineering attack over the phone, it is clear that cybercriminals remain determined to use any means necessary to catch people unaware.

“For organisations, it has become critical that they train employees around security best practices and the various methodologies used by the cybercriminal,” concludes Collard. “People need more help in learning about how to stay safe online at home, the office and on the road. Perhaps the worst mistake is that they believe they are security smart and can identify the risks, when they actually cannot. This is putting both them and their company at risk.”

Building a security culture, or in other words, strengthening the human defence layer and making them aware of how to detect and prevent social engineering attacks is a crucial element in organisational cybersecurity posture, especially as many people continue to work from home.

Loading

Advertisements
MTN ADS

Author

  • Yinka Okeowo
    Yinka Okeowo

    View all posts
0Shares
Tags: Anna CollardBotswanaCybercriminalEgyptEvangelist KnowBe4 AfricaGhanakenyaKnowBe4 AfricaMauritiusMoroccoNigeriasouth africa
Previous Post

Mark Zuckerberg Writes Meta Staff, Emphasises ‘Updating’ Company’s Values

Next Post

Airtel Unveils Red Data Plan, Offers Bonus Data Bundles to Customers with New Smartphones

Yinka Okeowo

Yinka Okeowo

Related Posts

Cyberdefence SensePost
Security

SensePost debuts SecDevOps: A developer-oriented Security Training Course

by Destiny Eseaga
May 29, 2025
0

Orange Cyberdefence SensePost will be launching a new information security training course aimed at enriching software developers with security thinking....

Read more
Check Point to acquire Veriti

Check Point to Acquire Veriti Cybersecurity

May 28, 2025
Autonomous Cyber threats | Nigeria - Transparent Transformation, Bridging digital divide, Nigerian Businesses and cybersecurity by Oluwole Asalu

Nigeria Must Prepare for the Rise of Autonomous Cyber Threats

May 27, 2025
DDoS and NETSCOUT

Nigeria, Mali Lead West Africa in DDoS Attacks for Late 2024, Says NETSCOUT

May 27, 2025
Airtel Photo AI SPAM ALERT - Copyright - Techeconomy

Airtel AI Spam Alert Service Flags 9.6 million Spam Attempts in Two Months

May 26, 2025
Business security by John Mc Loughlin, J2 Software CEO | Honeypot as a Service

Why We Introduced ‘Honeypot as a Service’ – J2 Software

May 20, 2025
Next Post

Airtel Unveils Red Data Plan, Offers Bonus Data Bundles to Customers with New Smartphones

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Techeconomy Podcast

Techeconomy Podcast
Techeconomy Podcast

Infowave is brought to you by TechEconomy. Every week we will bring new stories from startups and influencers who are shaping and changing the world we live in. We’ll also bring you reports on topics you should know.

Follow us @techeconomyng for more.

TECH TALK EPISODE 2
byTecheconomy

PRODUCTIVITY AND WORK-Life Balance

TECH TALK EPISODE 2
TECH TALK EPISODE 2
May 22, 2025
Techeconomy
CYBERSECURITY ESSENTIALS
April 24, 2025
Techeconomy
Digital Marketing Trends and strategies for 2025 and beyond
February 27, 2025
Techeconomy
Major Lesson for Techies in 2024 and Projections for 2025
December 6, 2024
Techeconomy
Major Lessons for Techies in an AI-Driven World | Techeconomy Business Series Highlights
November 26, 2024
Techeconomy
Maximizing Profitability Through Seasonal Sales: Strategies For Success
November 8, 2024
Techeconomy
Techeconomy Business Series
October 15, 2024
Techeconomy
PRIVACY IN THE ERA OF AI: GETTING YOUR BUSINESS READY
May 30, 2024
Techeconomy
Unravel the Secrets of Marketing Everywhere All At Once with Isaac Akanni from Infobip | Infowave Podcast Episode 1
February 9, 2024
Techeconomy
The Role of Ed-tech in Life Long Learning and Continuous Education
October 19, 2023
Techeconomy
Search Results placeholder

WHAT IS TRENDING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_MCUwS2woc&list=PL6bbK-xx1KbIgX-IzYdqISXq1pUsuA4dz

Follow Us

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Privacy Policy

© 2025 Techeconomy - Designed by Opimedia.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Tech
    • DisruptiveTECH
    • ConsumerTech
      • Accessories
      • Phones
      • Laptop
      • Gadgets and Appliances
      • Apps
    • How To
    • TechTAINMENT
  • Business
    • Telecoms
      • Broadband
    • Mobility
    • Environment
    • Travel
    • Commerce
    • StartUPs
    • TE Insights
    • Security
  • Partners
  • Economy
    • Finance
    • Fintech
    • Digital Assets
    • Personal Finance
    • Insurance
  • Features
    • IndustryINFLUENCERS
    • Guest Writer
    • Appointment
    • EventDIARY
    • Editorial
  • Apply
  • TecheconomyTV
  • Techeconomy Events
  • BusinesSENSE For SMEs
  • TBS

© 2025 Techeconomy - Designed by Opimedia.

Translate »
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.