When it comes to Cyber threats in Kenya, we never have concrete figures of the number of threats during a particular period. Most organizations involved in this sector tend to be secretive with the figures and we end up with different figures that cannot be verified. This is why the latest report from the Communications Authority caught my eyes.
The Communications Authority of Kenya has just released its first quarter (July-September 2018) sector statistics report for the 2018/2019 financial year and one of the highlighted statistics are the cybersecurity threats during the three month period.
According to the Communications Authority, the National Cybersecurity Centre (NCC) received over 3.4 million Cybersecurity related threats during the three-month period from June to September 2018. These threats range from malware, systems misconfigurations, web application, botnet, online fraud, online impersonation and online abuse attacks.
“The cyber threats detected varied from denial-of-service (DOS) including botnet and brute-force attacks that led to denial of computer services and illegal access to computer systems; online impersonation via social media accounts and domain names; web application attacks including website defacement; malware including phishing attacks; online abuse including online fraud, hate speech, incitement to violence and fake news; and systems misconfiguration, among others,” said the Communications Authority in a statement.
Below is a breakdown of the cyber threats to help you understand better.
| No. | Cyber Attack Vector | Jul -Sep 18 | Apr-Jun 18 |
| 1. | Malware attacks | 1,844,897 | 1,665,961 |
| 2. | Web application attacks | 1,064,971 | 771,518 |
| 3. | Botnet/DDOS | 911,298 | 1,023,388 |
| 4. | System Misconfiguration | 2,548 | 932 |
| 5. | Online Abuse | 158 | 647 |
| 6. | Online Impersonation | 196 | 34 |
| Total Cyber Threats | 3,824,068 | 3,462,480 |
No information was shared about the specific threats during this period. This can be helpful when it comes to preventing future attacks. We also don’t know of any successful cyber attacks as most organizations are usually secretive about this. Maybe we will get to a point where we get real figures and statistics to help prevent against future attacks.
Also Read: Cisco 2018 Annual Cybersecurity Report Reveals What Can Be Done To Defend Against Threats