NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

The rapid development of Internet access throughout Africa has not been accompanied by an equivalent increase in awareness of security issues, opening up the possibility of a rise in cyberattacks.

With many countries testing 4G broadband technology, an increasing number of Africans are being introduced to the Internet through mobile devices. Most new users are excited and would click on almost anything, oblivious to lurking dangers, according to Mikhail Nagorny, head of Business Development and Security Intelligence Services at Kaspersky Lab.

Nagorny noted that the rate of technology adoption in Africa has outpaced that of Europe.

“Before, cyberattacks did not have an impact,” Nargony said. With the rise of high-speed Internet, though, cybercriminals can take advantage of unsuspecting users, he added.

Recent statistics from the Communication Authority of Kenya show that the country has 26.1 million Internet users, and a little more than 16 million of them access the Internet through their mobile phones. In Nigeria, the most populous country on the continent, there are 80 million mobile internet users, according to the latest Nigeria Communication Commission report.

“All countries in the world, including Africa, have now the same Internet technology,” Kirill Kertsenbaum, head of Global Presales Management at Kaspersky explained. “So this has made the threat landscape the same across the globe.” The difference among regions mainly lies in the number of users accessing the Internet, he said.