Cameroon lost about XAF 6-billion (circa US$10.8-million) to cybercrime in 2019, according to a new report released by the National Agency for Information and Communication Technologies (ANTIC).

The government agency, which is charged with securing the country’s cyberspace, said since 2018 it has received no fewer than 2,050 complaints related to phishing, identity theft, scamming, amongst others, and issued 31 security bulletins.

The report cites financial fraud as the most severe cybercrime, specifically perpetrated using BEC (Business E-mail Compromise) to initiate false wire transfer orders, resulting in XAF 6-billion in losses.

BEC-type attacks are characterised by unplanned or urgent transfer of funds under confidentiality, sudden change of telephone numbers or e-mails, usurpation of title, and intrigues by unscrupulous individuals who pass for company executives.

ANTIC noted that the surge in cyber-attacks was due to the non-respect of its reference guidelines and appropriate preventive measures as well as non-compliance with the provisions of the law relating to the collection of traffic data.

The agency also cited the non-harmonisation of strategies and cybersecurity by different structures, the absence of a multi-actor framework responsible for the governance of the security of information systems, the lack of an operational digital communication strategy, inadequate cybersecurity training structures, low level of sensitisation of the population, issues related to the identification of subscribers by internet service providers, amongst others.

Speaking recently at a cybersecurity training session in Edea, Prof. Ebot Ebot Enaw, Director General of ANTIC, said: “It is imperative that data protection specialists collaborate even more closely to improve the protection measures in different sectors and ensure that the protection of privacy is a guiding principle of cyber security efforts.”

Recently the National Centre for Information Technology Development (CENADI) raised an alert that public institutions and corporate organisations in Cameroon were increasingly being targeted by cybercriminals as the structures resorted to teleworking due to COVID-19. Organisations with no business continuity plans were the most vulnerable.

Minette Libom Li Likeng, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications launched a national cybersecurity awareness campaign, running from August to December 2020, titled Let all mobilise for cybersecurity in Cameroon.