While analyzing the threat landscape of African countries, Kaspersky experts observed a steady decline in mobile device attacks in the region, as cybercriminals concentrated their efforts to focus on more complicated, dangerous, and profitable threats. These and other findings are included in Kaspersky’s report, Mobile Threats in 2021. Overall, South African users faced 38% fewer…
For an organization or individual, social media offers a plethora of opportunities to promote and expand a brand. Social media, a powerful form of communication that uses the internet, can provide any organization with a strong global presence. Most businesses believe they need a social media presence because these platforms and apps have billions of…
Payment structure narratives are changing as a result of technological advancements. Naturally, this convenience increases the risk of payment fraud. Each new payment method carries its own set of risks. Evina, a mobile anti-fraud specialist, examined the prevalence and evolution of this threat in 2021, with a focus on the African continent and the Middle…
Google has announced the expansion of its two-step verification (2SV) process for log-ins to improve account security after its newly introduced two-step verification initiative saw a 50% drop in account breaches for 150 million Gmail and 2 million YouTube creators accounts under the 2SV initiative. The 2SV introduces the use of mobile phones to confirm…
Because we have no other option, South Africans have grown accustomed to dealing with crime. Various sources rank South Africa near the top of lists of countries with the highest crime rates in the world. If you are a South African or live in South Africa, you most likely take a variety of precautions at…
Globally, cryptocurrency industry funding has been increasing rapidly in recent years. Crypto startups raised more than $27 billion in venture capital last year alone, which is slightly more than the previous ten years combined. Moreover, despite a drop in the price of cryptocurrencies, American venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm launched a $2.2 billion…
It is well known that ransomware attacks are on the rise, and businesses must be realistic about what this means for their security. In recent years, the number of entry points into IT systems that attackers can exploit has increased dramatically. According to the FBI, cybercrime has increased by 300 percent during the pandemic as…
Even before the pandemic, businesses had begun to put in place elements to manage distributed employees, such as corporate remote desktop or virtual private networking (VPN) capabilities. This, however, was not done on the scale or at the rate required to manage the disruption caused by COVID-19. Companies were suddenly confronted with an influx of…
This year, the world is a very different place than it was a few years ago. Much has changed, not only in terms of available technologies, but also in terms of how businesses use technology and how they must adapt to a fully remote or hybrid working environment. This has altered how data is used,…
If you’re new to the world of blockchain and crypto asset management, the term “smart contracts” may sound a little complicated. But, if “smart contracts” are the foundation upon which Defi will work or will invariably work, it only makes sense for everyone to understand what they are. Understanding the origins of smart contracts is…
Even in 2022, there are plenty of people out there attempting to take advantage of countless online retailers. The main issue here is that they are frequently small independent eCommerce merchants rather than large retailers who can potentially afford the loss caused by these scammers. Here are a few of the most common scams that…
The rise of digital banking and e-commerce, fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, creates an ideal environment for fraudsters and money launderers to perpetrate crimes anonymously. Clive Gungudoo, MoData’s Director of Financial Crimes and Risk Management, presents five key measures that organizations must use to protect their digital customer experience. Clive Gungudoo’s interest is educating and…
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is best known for assisting war victims, hackers broke into servers hosting its data and gained access to personal and confidential information on over 500,000 vulnerable people. According to the Geneva-based agency, the hack this week by unknown attackers damaged data on approximately 515,000 people,…
In Check Point Research of January 12, 2022, the Threat Intelligence arm of Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally, has published its latest Global Threat Index for December 2021. In a month that saw the Apache Log4j vulnerability sweep the internet, researchers reported that Trickbot is still the most prevalent malware, albeit at a slightly…
Mozilla researchers announced the commencement of their “Facebook Pixel Hunt” investigation this week, which aims to follow the company’s massive web-wide tracking network and scrutinize the data it collects on users. This study, as the name implies, focuses on a piece of tracking technology known as the “Facebook pixel.” You’ve probably visited a site that…
If there’s one thing that the year 2021 has taught us, it’s that nothing can be taken for granted. The local fibre landscape is rapidly changing: as a result of the pandemic, changes in home and workplace behavior are driving up demand for high-quality, dependable connectivity, while recent consolidation among Fibre Network Operators (FNOs) and…
In many ways, 2021 was a watershed moment for online privacy. Apple released an update in April 2021 that allowed users to opt-out of app tracking, with the majority of iPhone users having done so by the end of the year. There were even discussions about turning off tracking technology in the world’s most popular…
Some LastPass password manager users revealed this week that they received emails from LastPass stating that logins to their accounts using the master password had been blocked. The first of these reports appeared on Hacker News. LastPass emails indicate that a login attempt was unsuccessful. The login attempt came from Brazil in the case of…
People adore smart devices but are unconcerned about their security What if “Home Alone” had been released in theaters today? Instead of peering through the doorway, Kevin would most likely use his smartphone to monitor the house via smart cameras. In addition, instead of glass marbles, he could use a robot vacuum to attack the…
Given the realities of recent years, the majority of work is now done from home. All businesses that allow you to work from home on your personal devices have switched to a remote work format. When working from home, you are more likely to use devices for which no company service has been provided, as…
A malicious Android app with over 500,000 downloads from the Google Play app store has been discovered to be hosting malware that stealthily exfiltrates users’ contact lists to an attacker-controlled server and unknowingly signs users up for unwanted paid premium subscriptions. The latest Joker malware was discovered in Color Message (“com.guo.smscolor.amessage”), a messaging-focused app that…
A cross-party group of British lawmakers has said that Google, Facebook, and other online services should be held legally accountable for advertisements on their platforms in order to prevent fraudsters from duping millions of consumers. Britain has proposed a landmark online safety law to punish abuses such as child pornography, racism, and violence against women,…
Volvo, the Swedish automaker, announced on Friday that hackers had stolen research and development data from its systems in a cyberattack. The company, which is owned by China’s Geely, stated that it “has become aware that one of its file repositories has been illegally accessed by a third party.” “So far, investigations confirm that a…
A critical vulnerability in a widely used software tool — one that was quickly exploited in the online game Minecraft — is quickly emerging as a major threat to organizations worldwide. “Right now, the internet is on fire, “Crowdstrike’s senior vice president of intelligence, Adam Meyers, concurred. “People are scrambling to patch, and all kinds…
Cyberattacks on businesses around the world have increased by 29% this year. This growing threat in Africa is being driven by an increase in internet users, which creates a larger pool of targets for criminals, as we’ve seen in Kenya. In January, the country’s connected population nearly reached 22 million, a figure that is likely…
According to Orange Cyberdefense, Europe’s largest managed security services provider, there has been a 13% increase in cyberattacks on enterprises over the last year, with a rise in ransomware incidents and, for the first time, a noticeable wave of attacks against mobile devices. The Security Navigator 2022 provides a detailed analysis of more than 50…
Google announced Tuesday that it is shutting down a network of approximately one million hijacked electronic devices used worldwide to commit online crimes, as well as suing Russia-based hackers the tech giant claims are to blame. The so-called botnet of infected devices, which was also used to stealthily mine Bitcoin, has been cut off from…
The KnowBe4 and ITWeb Ransomware Survey investigated the South African organization and discovered that ransomware and cybercrime are increasingly affecting organizations on the continent. While many businesses (32%) will be attacked in 2021, some multiple times (12%), 64 percent believe they are prepared, and 67 percent will not pay the ransom. According to Anna Collard,…
Women in Africa are using online platforms as a critical source of income now more than ever. Jumia, Africa’s largest e-commerce platform, recently announced that women make up 51% of its vendors and account for 33% of total merchandise sales between 2019 and 2020. The African ecommerce sector was valued at $20 billion (pdf) in…
On Monday, Israel stated that countries interested in purchasing its cyber technologies would be required to commit to using them only to prevent a limited number of terrorist acts and serious crimes. The announcement by Israel’s Defense Ministry was the latest step in strengthening its oversight following concerns about possible abuses of a hacking tool…