Kenya experiences 82 per cent rise in cyberattacks

"The report highlights that businesses must be consistently vigilant about the ever-evolving cybercrime landscape and the methods malicious actors use to breach cyber security measures. As the report shows, complacency is a luxury no one can afford," he added.

All the respondents in the report highlighted that they had advanced significantly in their cloud and digital strategies and cyber security capabilities.

Furthermore, the majority (68 per cent) of the companies interviewed in the research said they had appointed cyber security staff members or signed up with a cyber security team in the past year.

The research also highlights that over half of all large enterprises in the three countries were victims of a successful cyberattack, with 90 per cent of them being Kenyan businesses. Increasingly sophisticated methods like Cybercrime-as-a-Service (CaaS) are becoming more popular in Africa, meaning businesses can no longer rely on outdated technologies and processes.

The top method of attack used by cybercriminals targeting companies was through email, using Phishing or Spam attacks (61 per cent), with attacks through compromised passwords following at 48 per cent and data breaches and attacks (44 per cent) being the second and third most common.

Furthermore, 61 per cent of the companies included in the research said that the breaches to their operations occurred as a result of remote or hybrid working.

One of the most concerning revelations in the report is that Africa faces a growing 100,000-person gap in the number of certified cyber security professionals.