E-Business
Malware Grew by 5.7% in 2021 – Report
Last year, Kaspersky’s detection systems found over 380 000 malicious files each day, pointing to a 5.7% increase compared to the previous year.
This growth is in line with the ongoing rise in the number of devices used globally, among other things.
This was revealed by Kaspersky’s Security Bulletin: Statistics of the Year Report.
In the past, the majority of threats (91%) happened via WindowsPE files – a file format specific to Windows OS. However, in 2021 attackers began spreading threats associated with the Linux OS more actively than ever before, resulting in the number of Linux malware and unwanted software soaring by 57%.
Over half (54%) of the threats were made up of unspecified Trojans, and although many types of threats showed a decrease in volume in 2021 compared to 2020, Trojan Droppers grew by 2.24% during that time. This type of threat is particularly harmful as these programs are designed to deliver other, more sophisticated malware to a target’s device.
There was also a substantial increase in the number of worms detected (117.5%). Lastly, viruses grew by 27%.
Over half of the threats detected by Kaspersky during 2021 were made up of unspecified Trojans.
Denis Staforkin, a security expert at Kaspersky, says throughout last year, the company found 20 000 more pieces of malware per day than the year before. “This was not unexpected. Online activity is still at its height due to remote working being adopted worldwide.”
In addition, he says the major shift to online operations also meant an increasing number of devices are being used around the world, leading to a wider attack surface and, as a result, a wider exposure to threats.
“Improving digital literacy and keeping security solutions up to date are two extremely important tasks for users today,” he adds.
To stay protected, Kaspersky recommends to never download and install applications from untrusted sources, or click on any links from unknown sources or suspicious online advertisements.
Also, the company advises to create strong and unique passwords, to always install updates, as some of them may contain critical security issue fixes, and ignore messages asking to disable security systems for office or cyber security software.
Transcorp Hotels Plc has delivered a stellar performance in the first half of 2025, recording a 60% year-on-year surge in revenue to ₦47.57 billion, up from ₦29.72 billion in H1 2024. Gross profit climbed 71% to ₦36.21 billion, maintaining a strong 76% margin despite inflation and operational headwinds.
The hospitality giant, a subsidiary of Transnational Corporation Plc, also announced an interim dividend payout of ₦1.024 billion — offering ₦0.10 per 50 kobo ordinary share to shareholders.
In a bold move, the company unveiled Nigeria’s largest corporate venue — the 5,000-seat Transcorp Centre — staking its claim as the new leader in event hospitality. Chairman Emmanuel Nnorom described the results as proof of Transcorp Hotels’ transformative strategies and unwavering investor commitment. MD/CEO Uzo Oshogwe attributed the success to relentless execution and a resilient business model.
Transcorp Hotels, renowned for iconic assets like Transcorp Hilton Abuja and its digital platform Aura, says it isn’t just leading Nigeria’s hospitality sector — it’s redefining excellence across Africa.
Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.
China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.
The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.
“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.
The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.
It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.
Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.
Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.
Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.
A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.
“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.
Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.
Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.
It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.
Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.
According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.
NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”
The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.
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