Nigeria Becomes 13th Most At Risk Country To Cyberattacks

Last year, Nigeria’s position on the Global Threat Index moved from the 35th position to the 13th position between May and December. Additionally, the country’s normalized risk index skyrocketed from 46.5% to 62.3% during the same time. These figures highlight an increase in cyberattacks in the country.

The latest report found that eight other African countries took over the top 20 positions in December, with Ethiopia taking the 1st position globally.

The Global Threat Index is a monthly report collected by Check Point Securities. They are one of the leading cybersecurity solutions that examines the global cyber threat landscape based on reliable threat intelligence.

Which other African countries were vulnerable to cyberattacks?

“Ethiopia retained its top spot as the most attacked country with a 98.2% Normalised Risk Index out of the 106 countries featured in the Index, the report said. Ahead of Nigeria on the list were Uganda, Angola, and Ghana in 8th, 9th, and 11th place. Coming in at number 17 was Kenya, with a Normalised Risk Index of 57.6%, followed by Mozambique, with a risk index of 56.9%.

Côte d’Ivoire came in 20th place with “a higher Normalised Risk Index than last month” of 55.6%.

The report also found that Education/research was ranked as the most attached industry globally, followed by Communications and government/military. In December 2024, FunkSec, the most active cyber attackers in the Artificial Intelligence-powered ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) group, took up 14% of all reported breaches during that month.

“The latest trends in cybercrime underscore the importance of vigilance and innovation in cybersecurity. Organisations must leverage advanced threat prevention measures to protect themselves against the evolving landscape of sophisticated attacks,” noted Maya Horowitz, VP of Research at Check Point Software, per Techpoint.

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