The frequency of high-severity incidents with direct human involvement exceeded two per day in 2023, according to the Kaspersky Managed Detection and Response (MDR) team.

In the latest MDR Analyst Report, they observed this trend across all industries with financial, IT, government, and industrial sectors at the top of the list.

The annual Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Analyst Report provides information about the reported incidents, their nature, and their distribution by industry and geographic region.

It also highlights the most common tactics, techniques and tools attackers used in the past year. These results are based on analysis of MDR incidents detected by the Kaspersky Security Operations Center (SOC).

According to the report, 22.9% of all detected high-severity incidents were recorded in the government sector. IT companies came second (15.4%), closely followed by financial and industrial companies that reported 14.9% and 11.8% of incidents, respectively.

Regarding the nature of these incidents, nearly 25% of them were driven by humans. Just over 20% involved various types of ‘cyber exercises’, which had been previously classified by Kaspersky as targeted attacks but designated as ‘cyber exercises’ upon explicit confirmation by the customer.

The percentage of malware attacks resulting in serious consequences dipped slightly in 2023 compared to previous years, accounting for just over 12% of the total reported critical incidents.

This decline represents the smallest share of high severity incidents in recent years and can be attributed to the “commoditization of attacks”.

This trend reflects the widespread adoption of previously developed tools, originally designed for conducting targeted campaigns which, due to deliberate or accidental leaks, have become common. These tools are now being repurposed in attempts to implement fully automated attack scenarios.

The 2023 MDR’s report, also found that the proportion of incidents involving the detection of targeted attack artefacts, publicly available critical vulnerabilities and the use of social engineering was around 4-5%.

“In 2023, Kaspersky detected a smaller number of high-severity incidents, but observed a simultaneous increase in the number of medium and low severity ones. This redistribution of occurrences is associated with the detection of malware without visible traces of active human participation in attacks, which can be explained by the “commoditization of tools”.

However, it’s important to understand that the low number of high-severity incidents does not necessarily indicate low damage. Targeted attacks are now planned more carefull, and become more dangerous.

Therefore, we recommend the use of effective automated cybersecurity solutions managed with the help of experienced SOC analysts,” comments Sergey Soldatov, Head of Security Operations Center at Kaspersky.

To enhance protection against advanced attacks, companies are advised to implement effective cybersecurity solutions and hire qualified practitioners to manage them or adopt managed security services such as Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and Incident Response.

These products cover the entire incident management cycle from threat identification to continuous protection and remediation. These services will help protect against evasive cyberattacks, investigate incidents and provide additional expertise even if a company lacks security workers.

Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST, has embarked on clampdown of illegal courier, express delivery, dispatch and logistics service operators in Kano State.

Dotun Shonde, the General Manager, Courier and Logistics Regulatory Department (CLRD), NIPOST, while speaking with newsmen during the clampdown operation in Kano, said the exercise became imperative to sanitize and weed out quacks from the postal service industry.

Shonde said he has received several complaints from Nigerians about sharp practices in the sector perpetrated by the illegal operators who are operating without obtaining licence and contrary to the extant laws of the postal service.

According to him, “the enforcement operations of NIPOST Act provides that before you operate a courier, express, delivery, dispatch and logistics service, you obtain a grant of license from the PostMaster General. It is stipulated in Section 43 of the NIPOST Act CAP 127 laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

“So, as you have seen, we have embarked on clampdown operation, we have people who are operating in defiant of that law, without regard to that extant law as provided for.

“The Postal, Express, Courier and Logistics industry in Nigeria has been proliferated and infiltrated with so many unlicensed/illegal Courier and Logistics Operators with reckless abandonment for ethical standard and professional conduct.

“There exist unethical sharp practices, such as price undercutting, pilfering, broaching, damages, loss and dumping of customers items, poaching and subletting of operating licenses with mountain of public complaints about Customer’s being duped or obtaining money from them under false pretenses, no traceable office address nor registered brand name.

“There abound the issue of public safety and security threats, due to carriage of illicit drugs and prohibited items. We have cases in some other parts of the country where during clampdown we found in their dispatch boxes with illicit drugs, small arms and ammunition, human parts and currency.

“All these things are prohibited in the postal service but because they are quacks and not operating within the professional ethics, so they carry anything. And of course, they have patronizers, people who patronize them because of the illicit activities.

“It is a menace to the Postal industry and portrays a negative image to the Nigerian society at large. It is against global best practices and International conventions.

“The Enforcement Team consists of officials of the Courier and Logistics Regulatory Department (CLRD) NIPOST, armed mobile police officers and men of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), and members of the press.

“So, we are here to sanitize the postal service in Kano State. The enforcement operations are about sanity to the postal market or industry. We have a lot of quacks operating in that space. No licence, no traceable office address. We have lots of complaints in the office by the Nigerian public.

“It is expedient for any interested private investors into the Postal, Express, Courier and Logistics business to follow the due process and obtain a grant of operating Licenses from the Federal Government. They are required and advised to obtain a grant of Operating License from NIPOST as stipulated by the extant laws or risk facing the full wrath of the law, and prosecution,” he stated.

The General Manager, Shonde, however, stated that it has carried out the enforcement exercise in Abia, Rivers, Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Katsina, Kwara States while hinting that they will continue the exercise in Kaduna, Abuja and later Osun state.

Meanwhile, some of the offices sealed were located around Bompai road, Shari’a Commission road and Tarauni market among others.

As part of its commitment to empowering and mentoring women to become global leaders while breaking stereotypes and closing gender gaps, the Airtel Women Network, a platform comprising female employees of Airtel Nigeria, welcomed girls from Airtel’s adopted school, Alaba Oro Comprehensive Senior High School, Ajegunle, to commemorate International Day of Girls in ICT on Monday.

Led by the telco’s IT Director, Kemi Ariyo, the session emphasized the need for the rise of influential female role models in driving progress within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers. It also served as an avenue to inspire young girls about the vast opportunities within the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field.

During the session, Ogo Ofomata, Director of Enterprise and Airtel Business and President of the Airtel Women Network, shared insights on the significance of the 2024 commemoration with the students.

“Leadership entails leading yourself to do the things you have to do. With regard to the theme of this year’s International Girls in ICT Day, which is Leadership, our goal is to empower young girls and women to become programmers, coders, designers and to pursue careers in the ICT sector, ultimately becoming leaders in the IT sector,” she said.

The highlight of the event was a thought-provoking session led by Kemi Ariyo, IT Director at Airtel Nigeria, emphasizing the importance of technological knowledge in addressing various global challenges.

In her words, “The world revolves around technology and everything we do today has to do with technology. You can get into that space by adopting hard work, smart work, and an active involvement in internship programs. In addition, just as technology can be used in music and other sectors, learning technology can help you achieve your goals of problem- solving in this digital age.”

Also speaking at the event, Phanindra Nichanametla, Chief Financial Officer, Airtel Nigeria, restated Airtel’s tagline ‘A Reason to Imagine’, reassuring the students of Airtel’s commitment to encouraging positive imagination. “A very important note to take home from this event is that Airtel is here to change your imagination and give you opportunities to imagine more,” he said.

Airtel remains committed to promoting initiatives that promote gender equality and diversity in the workplace. By investing in the education and empowerment of young girls in ICT, Airtel Nigeria continues to pave the way for a more inclusive and prosperous future in the world of technology.