Cyber crimes have cost Angolan civil society more than one billion kwanzas in the last two years, a phenomenon that has grown rapidly in the country and leaves thousands of citizens on alert.
According to official data revealed, the amount defrauded was 1 billion, 137 million, 169 thousand, 783 kwanzas and three cents, mainly through social networks, in crimes of fraud and defamation.
As for the annual numbers, the average damage caused by punishable crimes, under the terms of the current Penal Code, is 568 million 584 thousand and 891 kwanzas.
In the last two years, the country registered 2.280 reports of cyber crimes, with 53% registered in 2022.
The figures also highlight that among the crimes with the highest incidence, in 2021 and 2022, computer scams stand out, with 583 cases, computer falsehood, with 511, illegitimate access to an information system and private life investigation, with 388, theft, with 373, and extortion, with 196, as well as injury, defamation and slander, with 130 occurrences.
BUT: Computer attacks put pressure on several Angolan companies
Of the most publicized cases recorded in the last three years in Angola, it should be noted what happened in July of the current year, at the Savings and Credit Bank (BPC), when suffering a cyber attack of unknown origin, which caused embarrassment to customers.
It is emphasized also the case of Sonangol, which took place in June 2019, which left the state-owned oil company partially paralyzed for at least two days.
At the time, preliminary investigations showed that a group of “hackers” had access to privileged information on more than seven thousand computers belonging to the oil company.
In fact, cyber threats today challenge the response capacity of most organizations in the country, forcing investments to avoid “damage” to computer systems and to deal with the numerous cases of registered cyber crimes.
