Thandile Fikeni, CEO of WIB Group.

The latest Mimecast Global Threat Intelligence Report 2024 H1, warns that African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to face the highest volume of cyber threats. 

The report analyses the threat landscape during the first six months of 2024 and offers actionable steps for organisations of all sizes to improve their cyber defences.

The report reveals that agriculture, forestry, and fisheries were the most targeted sectors in Africa, followed by government services, with SME firms bearing the brunt of the attacks. According to the report, file-sharing abuse attacks predominantly originate from domains including adobe.com, sharepoint.com and google.com.

According to Mimecast, a human risk management platform, employees in SME businesses continue to encounter more than twice the number of threats compared with those of large enterprises. 

However, Mimecast notes that, after analysing organisations of all sizes, the average number of threats per user has increased. Similarly, Mimecast reports that threats to large enterprises rose in the first quarter and marginally increased in the second quarter of this year.

Brian Pinnock, vice president of sales engineering EMEA, Mimecast.

“Our report, along with many others, reveals that cyber actors are increasingly targeting SMEs rather than just big businesses. We are also seeing a rise in cyberattacks on agriculture, forestry, fishing, and government services as more governments in the region turn to the food economy to foster economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve food security,” says Brian Pinnock, vice president of sales engineering EMEA, Mimecast. “With Africa containing some of the fastest-growing economies, and SMEs accounting for an estimated 40% of GDP in South Africa, the need for cybersecurity companies to offer tools and solutions is greater than ever."

Commenting on the findings, Thandile Fikeni, Chief Executive Officer at WIB Group, states "As cybersecurity issues escalate, South Africa faces significant rising threats, including ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure (e.g. power grids, healthcare), data breaches compromising personal information and intellectual property, financial fraud and online scams targeting individuals and businesses, foreign state-sponsored cyber espionage and sabotage, and cyber-enabled extortion.

Government-led initiatives can help combat cybercrime by providing resources and support to SMEs and individuals, establishing clear cybersecurity laws and regulations, and offering training and education programs.”

According to Fikeni, the most common cybersecurity threats facing SMEs are phishing attacks and social engineering, which can be 'cleverly disguised' and exploit human error. He added, "To protect themselves, SMEs can implement employee training and awareness programs that help to manage human risk, use robust AI-powered email security like Mimecast’s advanced solutions, enforce strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, and consider outsourcing cybersecurity to a managed service provider."