In 2014, the infamous Sony hack was the crowning finale to a year riddled with cyber attacks and data breaches. But it looks like 2015 may just outdo it in terms of frequency, magnitude and sensitivity of illegally accessed data.
So far, we’ve seen high-end data breaches of large companies like Ashley Madison and Patreon. We still remember the curious case of Hacking Team and Bayelsa state. Lest I forget, Uber was also breached last year. In most cases, personal records and financial information were stolen and dumped on the free web. Sometimes, the motivation was simply, “Just because we can”.
Already, in the first half of 2015, there have been 888 data breaches leading to 245.9 million records compromised worldwide.
What has me worried though is, when these hackers get bored with North America, Europe and Asia, they’ll sooner than later turn their keyboards to the African continent. According to Gemalto, a digital security firm, four out of the ten worst cyber attacks so far this year happened to Asian companies. So, I’m expecting Africa to start appearing on that list…
Anytime now
Hackers are upping their game and data breaches are becoming common, bolder and more devastating.
This interactive world map shows you in realtime, the frequency of cyber attacks in the world. Nigeria is currently ranked 100th most attacked, South Africa is 31st, Algeria is 16th (as at when I wrote this).
If any African company has been scrimping on security systems and encryption, I think it’s time they began taking it seriously. It’s only a matter of time before these “hacktivists” come trooping into the African cyberspace.
Since 2013 till date, there have been 3.3 billion cases of data breaches and illegal access to information. How long before Africa begins to factor into those statistics? Who knows?
I’m not the kid crying wolf. I’m just the one saying …
You should be worried about the increased frequency in cyber attacks. And respond accordingly.
Photo Credit: subcircle via Compfight cc
