Top 10 Cyber Threats that are actively shaping Africa’s cybersecurity landscape — region by region. This overview is intended to inform decision-makers, IT leaders, and security professionals about the latest developments and evolving risks. Understanding these threats is the first step toward building resilience and ensuring digital continuity.
As Africa continues its rapid digital transformation, the continent is experiencing an unprecedented rise in cyber threats. From fintech innovation to growing e-government services, increased digital footprints have made African organizations a growing target for cybercriminals.
Top 10 Cyber Threats of April 2025
1. Business Email Compromise (BEC) – West Africa
Threat actors continue to use social engineering and spoofed emails to divert funds or extract sensitive information from businesses. The financial impact across Nigeria, Ghana, and surrounding countries is significant.
Recommendation:
Prima Secure helps organizations implement DMARC, DKIM, and SPF email security protocols, alongside user awareness training, to reduce the risk of BEC and email impersonation.
2. Ransomware Attacks – Southern Africa
Ransomware campaigns are disrupting operations in South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia. Critical sectors such as healthcare and logistics are especially vulnerable.
Recommendation:
Prima Secure provides EDR/MDR solutions and threat detection capabilities to quickly identify, isolate, and respond to ransomware threats before they spread.
3. Financial Malware – East Africa
Banking Trojans and malicious mobile apps are targeting users in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, intercepting SMS-based OTPs and mimicking banking platforms.
Recommendation:
With mobile application security testing and zero-trust network segmentation, Prima Secure helps financial institutions secure their digital platforms and protect customer data.
4. Identity Theft & Social Engineering – North Africa
Phishing schemes and impersonation attacks in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia are compromising both individuals and government personnel.
Recommendation:
Through cybersecurity awareness campaigns and simulated phishing tests, Prima Secure equips organizations to defend against human-targeted attacks.
5. Critical Infrastructure Targeting – Central Africa
The DRC and Cameroon are seeing increased cyber activity aimed at telecom and energy infrastructure.
Recommendation:
Prima Secure offers OT/ICS security assessments and works with public and private stakeholders to implement layered controls tailored for critical systems.
6. Cloud Misconfigurations – Pan-African
Across the continent, cloud security remains a challenge. Improperly secured storage, exposed credentials, and unrestricted access are common.
Recommendation:
Prima Secure conducts cloud configuration audits and offers compliance-ready cloud posture management tools to prevent data leakage.
7. Insider Threats – Government & Education
Negligent or malicious insiders are causing data breaches in ministries and universities by mishandling sensitive information.
Recommendation:
Prima Secure assists in deploying privileged access management (PAM) and user behavior analytics to monitor and limit data exposure.
8. Supply Chain Attacks – Cross-border Enterprises
As African businesses expand digitally, third-party risk becomes a growing concern.
Recommendation:
Prima Secure supports third-party risk assessments and implements vendor risk management frameworks to ensure supply chain integrity.
9. Mobile Device Exploits – High-Risk Regions
With high smartphone adoption in countries like Ethiopia and Rwanda, attackers exploit mobile OS vulnerabilities and fake applications.
Recommendation:
Prima Secure offers mobile threat defense and helps secure remote access through multi-factor authentication (MFA) and mobile device management (MDM).
10. Low Cyber Awareness – Across All Regions
Cybersecurity education remains one of the continent’s weakest defenses — enabling many of the above threats to succeed.
Recommendation:
Prima Secure provides interactive cybersecurity training and awareness programs tailored to African languages, cultures, and digital maturity levels.
Final Thoughts: Staying Ahead of the Threat Curve
These evolving cyber threats call for more than just reactive security tools — they demand continuous improvement, proactive monitoring, and a culture of digital responsibility. Across industries, African organizations must shift toward a security-first mindset that balances technology, process, and people.
How Prima Secure Can Support You
As a cybersecurity partner rooted in the African context, Prima Secure provides:
- Managed cybersecurity services like SIEM, EDR/MDR, and PAM
- Vulnerability management powered by global threat intelligence
- Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) frameworks for regulated sectors
- Tailored cybersecurity training to build organizational cyber maturity
- PKI and SSL management services for secure digital trust
Prima Secure’s consultative approach ensures your cybersecurity strategy is aligned with your operational realities and regulatory requirements — not just industry buzzwords.