Among the most prominent cyberthreats identified in the report by Interpol (the International Criminal Police Organization, an intergovernmental organization with 195 member countries) are corporate email compromise campaigns. These are low-cost and low-risk, but very profitable for cybercriminals.
Phishing is also a growing concern in Africa. As more and more people use online services and applications, they are becoming increasingly vulnerable to phishing attacks.
Also rapidly increasing are ransomware attacks, where cybercriminals are targeting government, retail and public institutions, while an emerging and imminent threat to online shoppers comes in the form of trojans and bank thieves, which can undermine trust. in online financial payments.
It is not difficult to obtain different types of trojans and stealers from underground forums, which makes it easier for cybercriminals to launch their campaigns. The evolution of functionalities makes it difficult for police authorities to investigate these crimes.
Online scams are increasingly common and, in Africa, they take advantage of low levels of digital literacy. Cyber extortion also needs to be monitored, the report suggests, as it goes hand in hand with the proliferation of the Internet and mobile technologies.
Finally, the Interpol report highlights crimeware-as-a-service (CaaS), which is becoming popular in Africa due to its ease of use, accessibility and lack of consequences due to weak legal frameworks related to the application of the cybercrime.
CaaS refers to any computer program or suite of programs designed to facilitate illegal activities online. Spyware, phishing kits, browser hijackers and key loggers, among others, are available to attackers through CaaS, which gives criminals an easy way to carry out financially motivated attacks against vulnerable systems and companies.
The African region is witnessing unprecedented growth and development in the digital technology sector, particularly financial technology and e-commerce. The potential downsides of this accelerated growth are highlighted in the report, which can be downloaded from the Interpol.
