E-Business
Experts Warn of Impending Global ‘Cyber Pandemic’
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted global working culture. A recent survey by Checkpoint indicates that 95 per cent of security professionals are facing added IT security challenges due to the coronavirus. The shifts were global, rapid, and widespread.
Dr. Adewale Obadare
To this end that, Dr. Adewale Obadare, cofounder, Digital Encode, has likened the coronavirus pandemic facing the world to an impending global cyber-attack described as Cyber Pandemic.
According to him, “people and organizations have suffered greatly from the coronavirus pandemic. Many critical lessons are being learned, but none more important that another devastating crisis could be brewing. A catastrophic cyber event has long been envisioned, and with today’s digitally connected world, a global cyber pandemic is now a reality.
“The coronavirus that the world is facing is biological pandemic but the next global crisis is going to be called ‘Cyber pandemic’.
“Cyber pandemic just the same way as coronavirus which is biological in nature, there is going to be digital virus or cyber virus that is going to infiltrate a lot of computer systems globally.
“This is not to create fear for anyone. Don’t forget that as we gravitate through digital colonies using technology to drive our businesses and predominantly everything that we are involved in, there come so many risks. Just like during coronavirus pandemic, World Health Organisation comes out with best practices on what to do especially the issue of social distancing comes, the same way we have health best practices that we will have cyber hygiene. The same way you practice personal hygiene is how you will learn to practice cyber hygiene.
Obadare explained that to practice cyber hygiene starts with situation awareness that cyber security experts are creating, just like WHO is creating awareness about coronavirus.
“In cyber hygiene you try to prevent your system from been digitally evaded, we talk about asset distancing just like human beings are practising physical distancing now.
“Asset distancing in the cyber security world means to put measured that will separate and protect your system, one of those measures is network segmentation for the corporates. You need to segment your enterprises and network environment making sure that the way your system relate with public internet does not put your system at risk.
“The only way to achieve this is to make sure that you have good Patch management system this means that your system is up to date. Don’t use system that has been declared end of life.
“For instance, a lot of people are still using Windows XP and they are connected to the internet. Microsoft has declared end of life for Windows XP. If you are using Windows XP you are at risk and not practising cyber hygiene and with that, hackers can break into your system because you can’t practise Patch management with Windows XP. Depending on the platform that you are using,” he added.
Corroborating Obadare, Kenneth Okereafor, a Cybersecurity expert and Cyberspace defender, said that the “cyber pandemic” is already here with us.
“In every crisis including the COVID-19 pandemic, cyber-criminals are among the first to capitalize on fear, uncertainty, and doubt to exploit innocent victims. The cyberspace is currently hyperactive on account of increased patronage of online services occasioned by the COVID-19 restriction protocols.
“As a result, hackers and online fraudsters have taken advantage of the crisis to launch coordinated computer attacks using sophisticated combinations of social engineering and phishing emails to push ransomware and other exploits.
“This has resulted in identity theft, operational disruption, and revenue loss. In high profile cases such as the zoom-bombing episode in April and the 15th July Twitter hacks, the impacts could be scandalous,” he said.
Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) experts at the 10th annual Cyber Security Weekend – META 2025 held recently, talked about supply chain attacks and reported that by the end of 2024 a total of 14,000 malicious packages were found in open-source projects, a 48% increase compared to the end of 2023. 42 million versions of open-source packages have been examined by Kaspersky throughout 2024 in search for vulnerabilities.
Open-source is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance. Popular open-source packages include GoMod, Maven, NuGet, npm, PyPI, and others.
These are tools that power countless applications and help developers easily find, install, and manage pre-built code libraries, making it simpler to build software by reusing code others have written. Attackers take advantage of the popularity of these and other packages.
In March 2025, the Lazarus Group was reported to have deployed several malicious npm packages, which were downloaded multiple times before removal. These packages contained malware to steal credentials, cryptocurrency wallet data, and deploy backdoors, targeting developers’ systems across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
The attack leveraged GitHub repositories for added legitimacy, highlighting the group’s sophisticated supply chain tactics. Kaspersky’s GReAT also found other npm packages related to this attack. Malicious npm packages could have been integrated into web development, cryptocurrency platforms, and enterprise software, risking widespread data theft and financial losses.
In 2024, a sophisticated backdoor was discovered in XZ Utils versions 5.6.0 and 5.6.1, a widely used compression library in Linux distributions. Inserted by a trusted contributor, the malicious code targeted SSH servers, enabling remote command execution and threatening countless systems globally.
Detected before widespread exploitation due to performance anomalies, the incident highlighted the dangers of supply chain attacks. XZ Utils is integral to operating systems, cloud servers, and IoT devices, making its compromise a threat to critical infrastructure and enterprise networks.
In 2024, Kaspersky’s GReAT discovered that attackers uploaded malicious Python packages like chatgpt-python and chatgpt-wrapper to PyPI, mimicking legitimate tools for interacting with ChatGPT APIs.
These packages, designed to steal credentials and deploy backdoors, capitalised on the popularity of AI development to trick developers into downloading them. These packages could have been used in AI development, chatbot integrations, and data analytics platforms, endangering sensitive AI workflows and user data.
“Open-source software is the backbone of many modern solutions, but its openness is being weaponised. The 50% rise in malicious packages by the end of 2024 shows attackers are actively embedding sophisticated backdoors and data stealers in popular packages, which millions rely on.
“Without rigorous vetting and real-time monitoring, a single compromised package can trigger a global breach. Organisations need to secure the supply chain before the next XZ Utils-level attack succeeds,” comments Dmitry Galov, Head of Research Center for Russia and CIS at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team.
Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has launched an investigation into allegations that the confidentiality and integrity of candidates’ personal data may have been compromised by hackers.
The Commission initiated the inquiry following concerns over possible data breaches during examinations.
Preliminary findings indicate that several examination centres may not have implemented adequate technical and organizational measures to safeguard candidates’ personal information, as required under data protection regulations.
Although the incident reportedly affected 379, 997 candidates, the NDPC’s investigation is poised to cover a systemic audit of data processing and third parties.
It will be recalled that JAMB recently admitted that a technical error on its platform affected a total of 379,997 candidates in 157 examination centres across Lagos and the South-East.
Further investigation led to the arrest of at least 20 suspects who are currently in the custody of the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Police Force.
Cyber security firm, Kaspersky, has once again warned that sophisticated cybercriminals increasingly target Africa as ransomware and advanced persistent threats (APTs) escalate across the region.
Speaking at the company’s annual Cyber Security Weekend for the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region, the cybersecurity firm’s Global Research and Analysis Team highlighted growing digital threats affecting African nations.
Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa emerged as hotspots, with Kenya recording one of the highest web threat incident rates at 20.1% in first quarter 2025.
“While ransomware is less prevalent in Africa due to lower levels of digitisation and economic constraints, countries like South Africa and Nigeria are seeing a sharp rise in attacks,” said Sergey Lozhkin, head of META and APAC regions at Kaspersky.
Kaspersky noted a 0.01 percentage point increase in African ransomware cases year-on-year, reaching 0.41%, still below global and Middle Eastern averages, but a troubling sign for the continent’s emerging digital infrastructure.
Experts warned that attackers are refining their tactics, shifting focus to unconventional entry points like IoT devices, smart appliances, and misconfigured hardware.
“As these economies expand digitally, sectors such as manufacturing, finance and government are becoming key targets,” said Lozhkin
The cyber-crime landscape is evolving quickly, fuelled by AI tools and dark web access to large language models, which enable less skilled actors to launch convincing phishing and malware campaigns.
Groups like FunkSec, which uses AI-generated code and a low-cost ransom model, are redefining ransomware operations.
“African organisations face the dual challenge of expanding digital footprints and limited cybersecurity awareness. This makes layered defense strategies, including network segmentation, real-time monitoring and regular staff training, essential,” stated Lozhkin
Kaspersky continues to monitor 25 active APT groups in the META region, including SideWinder and MuddyWater, some of which are known to target African institutions.
To bolster defenses, the firm recommends using tools such as its free Anti-Ransomware Tool for Business and the Kaspersky Next suite for threat visibility and response.
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