The Cybersafe Foundation has collaborated with Google in strengthening cybersecurity resilience among Critical Community Institutions across Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa with the launch of Resilio Africa.

Speaking at the event in Lagos, Confidence Staveley, Executive Director of the Cybersafe Foundation, noted that while many organizations recognize the risks posed by cyber threats, conversations often stall when it comes to implementation.

“Across Africa, Critical Community Institutions are facing an increase in cyberattacks often without the capacity to defend themselves. Sub-Saharan Africa is now experiencing some of the most aggressive cyber activity globally. According to a threat report by Kaspersky, the region recorded over 42 million web attacks and 95 million malware-based, on-device attacks in just the first half of 2025.

“What’s especially concerning is the nature of these attacks: spyware, password stealers, and backdoor tools dominate, with password-stealing malware increasing by more than 60%.

“In East Africa, the scale is even more stark. Kenya alone recorded 2.5 billion cyber-threat events in Q1 2025, driven largely by phishing, mobile money fraud, and misconfigured cloud services,” she stated.

According to her, the primary barrier is not a lack of willingness but limited financial capacity to fund adequate cybersecurity measures.

“The conversation drops off at the point of taking action,” she said, explaining that many institutions lack the budgets required to implement robust security systems.

She disclosed that the programme’s provision of 10,000 hours of expert cybersecurity consultation—offered at no cost to participating institutions would ordinarily represent services valued at over one million dollars. The support, funded through a grant from Google.org, will be delivered by specialists across four participating countries.

Staveley reaffirmed that the Cybersafe Foundation remains a non-profit organization focused on supporting vulnerable communities and institutions, and described Resilio Africa as a strategic intervention aimed at strengthening digital trust across the continent, ensuring that commerce and essential public services can operate securely in an increasingly digital society.

Although the programme currently covers Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, Staveley acknowledged that the cybersecurity challenges extend far beyond those countries, and expressed hope that demonstrated impact from the initial phase would attract additional funding to scale the initiative to more than the 200 critical community institutions currently targeted, including underserved Francophone nations.

“This work is free to the organizations we serve, but it is not free to deliver,” she noted, underscoring the need for sustainable funding.

Explaining her personal motivation, Staveley said she views Africa’s cybersecurity challenges as opportunities for impact. Despite her engagements on global platforms, she emphasized her commitment to Nigeria and the broader African continent, describing the region as both home and a priority.

She pointed to a growing mismatch between rising cyber threats and limited investment in cybersecurity infrastructure, arguing that bridging this gap is central to the Foundation’s mission.

Staveley also clarified that Resilio Africa will not collect or own user data from participating institutions. Instead, the programme will focus on strengthening internal controls, building capacity and guiding organizations toward improved data protection practices.

With Resilio Africa now underway, the Cybersafe Foundation aims to demonstrate how targeted support for critical community institutions can enhance digital security and build long-term resilience across Africa’s rapidly expanding digital economy.

Kaspersky has announced a major update to its Threat Intelligence Portal (TIP), introducing a new Hunt Hub section alongside an enhanced MITRE ATT&CK coverage map and a significantly expanded vulnerabilities database.

The update strengthens organisations’ ability to investigate threats, understand adversary behaviour, and proactively monitor the most relevant risks across their environments.

According to the Kaspersky Security Bulletin 2025 report, Kaspersky’s detection systems discovered an average of 500,000 malicious files per day in 2025, marking a 7% increase compared to the previous year. As cyberattacks become more sophisticated and frequent, security teams need more than alerts – they need clarity.

The newly launched Hunt Hub is designed to address growing market demand for greater transparency and deeper insight into how modern detection technologies work. Integrated into the Threat Landscape section of the Threat Intelligence Portal, Hunt Hub provides centralised access to Kaspersky’s threat hunting expertise and detection knowledge.

Hunt Hub includes Kaspersky Next EDR Expert hunts, also known as indicators of attack (IoA) or detection rules. All portal users can explore the catalogue of hunts and their descriptions, while Kaspersky Next EDR Expert customers gain extended access to detailed recommendations and detection logic presented in a convenient, SIGMA-like format. Each hunt is mapped to relevant MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques and linked to known threat actors, giving analysts clear context behind every detection.

By making detection logic visible and structured, Hunt Hub effectively removes the “black box” from threat detection. It allows security teams not only to respond to alerts, but also to understand why a detection was triggered and which threat it is designed to uncover – improving trust in security technologies and increasing the efficiency of threat investigation processes.

As part of the update, the MITRE ATT&CK coverage map within the Threat Landscape has been significantly enhanced. The portal now brings together product coverage across SIEM, EDR, NDR and Sandbox solutions, MITRE ATT&CK techniques with scoring, coverage percentages, and related Kaspersky Next EDR Expert hunts in a single, unified view. This enables organisations to assess how well their security stack covers relevant attack techniques and identify potential gaps in protection.

The Vulnerabilities section has also been expanded, with the CVE database now covering nearly 300,000 vulnerabilities. In addition, the portal provides more detailed information on vulnerabilities that have been exploited in real-world attacks, helping organisations prioritise remediation efforts based on actual threat activity.

“With the launch of Hunt Hub in the Kaspersky Threat Intelligence Portal, we are opening up our detection expertise and giving analysts clear visibility into how and why threats are detected. This transparency helps organisations move from reactive alert handling to informed threat hunting and proactive risk management,” comments Nikita Nazarov, Head of Threat Exploration at Kaspersky.

Born between 2010 and 2025, Gen Alpha aren’t just growing up with technology – they’re actively living it. These digital natives are already wielding smartphones, tablets, and AI-powered tools with the confidence of seasoned users, navigating everything from gaming and social media to online learning platforms with remarkable ease.

But the question that concerns parents and security experts is whether we are giving our children too powerful technology, too soon. On Safer Internet Day, Kaspersky security experts are sharing practical tips to help parents turn AI from a potential threat into a trusted ally for the younger generation.

The first line of defence is building AI awareness

Children have already discovered that ChatGPT, DeepSeek and other neural networks can answer questions faster than you can find the right answer in Google, and Alexa can play music without pressing a single button.

So, the only solution is to become children’s AI support. Begin by explaining that these digital assistants aren’t friends, pets, or even real people. They’re sophisticated tools that can be helpful, but also potentially misleading, biased, or simply wrong. Then teach them to cross-check information with multiple sources, just like they’d verify facts in a school project.

When discussing AI with children, emphasise that they should never fully trust AI answers, especially for sensitive topics like health, mental wellbeing, or safety concerns. Always encourage them to verify information and never share personal details or documents with AI systems.

Enabling safety filters 

Most AI platforms and smart devices come with built-in safety features that are often overlooked or misunderstood. Spend some time checking the privacy settings and content filters and, if possible, tailor them to match your family’s values and your child’s maturity level. This is a basic protection against inappropriate content, privacy breaches, and potentially harmful interactions.

However, not all services and platforms provide an opportunity to set up content filters and fully control children’s online activity. To create a safer digital environment for your children consider using parental control tools like Kaspersky Safe Kids. It allows parents to not only hide inappropriate content and prevent specific apps and websites from being opened but also helps balance children’s time spent online with screen time management. 

Checking the AI-powered apps authenticity 

In a world where AI apps are popping up faster than you can say “chatbot,” verifying app authenticity is essential. Only download apps from official stores and inform your children about the importance of not installing anything from unfamiliar sources. Look up the company behind the app and check whether they have a website and legitimate business presence.  Teach your kids to limit their app’s permissions and do not give access to data unless it’s necessary for the apps to work. 

Staying involved and informed 

A basic understanding of the range of problems your child is willing to entrust to AI is already significant. By asking simple questions like “What did you ask AI today? Did it give you the right answer?” you’ll be teaching your children to openly discuss with you the use of AI and problems they might face. When they mention using ChatGPT for homework, ask them to show you what they’ve learned. When they talk about their favourite voice assistant, ask about the topics they like to discuss and funny particularities they noted.

“When you actively participate in your child’s AI journey, you transform from a concerned parent into a trusted guide. They’ll seek your input because they know you’re interested in their digital experiences, not just trying to control them. But while allowing children some AI freedom, you must always remain vigilant about their online safety and healthy growth,” comments Andrey Sidenko, Cyber Literacy Projects Lead at Kaspersky.