A report from Kaspersky, a multinational cybersecurity solutions and anti-virus provider company, showed that in the African region, Kenya and Nigeria recorded an increase in financial phishing attacks in the second quarter (Q2) of 2022.
The company’s Security Network data revealed that the number of financial phishing attempts in the two countries increased significantly from Q1 to Q2, 2022. Banks, payment systems, and e-commerce websites were attacked.
In Q2 of 2022, a total of 100,192 financial phishing attacks aimed at organizations were detected in Kenya, a 201% increase compared to Q1.
The largest share of attacks was directed at e-commerce websites (58%), with banks (21%) and payment systems (also 21%) following.
In Q2 of 2022, in Nigeria, a total of 61,344 financial phishing attacks aimed at organizations were detected, an increase of 79% compared to Q1.
The largest share of attacks was directed at e-commerce websites (52%), with payment systems (42%) and banks (6%) following.
Speaking on the report, the Head of Technical Experts at Kaspersky Emad Haffar, said “A life without Internet is strange to us. So much so that our financial life is now digital. This is the magic of digitization. But we also need to be aware of an unprecedented wave of challenges.
“Financial threats are one such challenge that is becoming more advanced in exploiting human behavior and will only continue to grow.
“Businesses trying to stay ahead of such evolving, complex cyberattacks should make fraud prevention a focal point to control fraud transactions, eventually reduce fraud risk in the future and avoid reputation damage.”
Kaspersky also reported that in the second quarter (Q2) of 2022, phishing attacks skyrocketed with over 1 million observed, which has been described as the worst quarter for phishing that has ever been observed.
Phishing attacks against the financial sector, which includes banks, remained the largest set of attacks, accounting for 27.6 percent of all phishing.
The most targeted industries in Q2 of 2022 are as follows;
- Financial Institution – 27.6%
- Saas/Webmail – 19.1%
- Social media – 15.3%
- Payment – 6.3%
- E-commerce/ Retail – 5.6%
- Cryptocurrency – 4.5%
- Logistics/ Shipping – 4.3%
- Telecom – 2.6%
- Others – 14.7%
