Telecom
Ransomware Persisted Despite Improved Detection in 2022 – IBM Report
IBM Security released its annualX-Force Threat Intelligence Index finding that although ransomware’s share of incidents in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) held steady at 18%, globally defenders were more successful detecting and preventing ransomware.
Despite this, attackers continued to innovate, with the report showing that globally the average time to complete a ransomware attack dropped from two months down to less than 4 days.
According to the 2023 report, the deployment of backdoors, which allow remote access to systems, emerged as the top action by attackers in the MEA region last year. Backdoor deployments were detected in 27% of the cases X-Force responded to in this region in 2022. Ransomware and worms tied for the second-most common attack type in the region at 18% each. The uptick in backdoor deployments can be partially attributed to their high market value. X-Force observed threat actors selling existing backdoor access for as much as $10,000, compare this to stolen credit card data, which sells for less than $10 per card today.
As organizations across the MEA region try to address the ever-evolving cyber threats landscape, Frida Kleimert Knibbs, Security Leader at IBM MEA, stressed the critical role of threat intelligence in safeguarding against these threats. She commented: “Proactively managing security risks and evolving cybercrime tactics is a critical priority for organizations across MEA. The X-Force Threat Intelligence Index findings demonstrate the continued threat of ransomware and the increasing use of thread hijacking tactics.”
She added: “To safeguard against these threats, it’s imperative that companies remain vigilant and focus on effective incident response planning. As the security landscape evolves, it is crucial to prioritize threat intelligence and strengthen defenses”.
The IBM Security X-Force Threat Intelligence Index tracks new and existing trends and attack patterns – pulling from billions of datapoints from network and endpoint devices, incident response engagements and other sources.
Some of the key findings in the 2023 report include:
- Extortion: Threat Actors Go-to Method. The most common impact from cyberattacks in 2022 was extortion, which was primarily achieved through ransomware or business email compromise attacks. Extortion and financial loss each accounted for half of identified impacts in incidents across the MEA region in 2021. Manufacturing was the most extorted industry globally in 2022, and it was again the most attacked industry for the second consecutive year. Manufacturing organizations are an attractive target for extortion, given the extremely low tolerance for down time.
- Cybercriminals Weaponize Email Conversations. Thread hijacking saw a significant rise in 2022, with attackers using compromised email accounts to reply within ongoing conversations posing as the original participant. X-Force observed the rate of monthly attempts increase by 100% globally compared to 2021 data. Over the year, X-Force found that attackers used this tactic to deliver Emotet, Qakbot, and IcedID, malicious software that often results in ransomware infections.
- Legacy Exploits Still Doing the Job. The proportion of known exploits relative to vulnerabilities declined 10 percentage points globally from 2018 to 2022, due to the fact that the number of vulnerabilities hit another all-time high. The findings indicate that legacy exploits enabled older malware infections such as WannaCry and Conficker to continue to exist and spread.
- Phishers “Give Up” on Credit Card Data. The number of cybercriminals targeting credit card information in phishing kits dropped 52% globally in one year, indicating that attackers are prioritizing personally identifiable information such as names, emails, and home addresses, which can be sold for a higher price on the dark web or used to conduct further operations.
- Finance and Insurance Remain Prime Targets for Cyberattacks in MEA: In the Middle East and Africa, Finance and insurance was the most-targeted industry in 2022, accounting for 44% of incidents and down slightly from 2021 at 48%. Professional, business and consumer services accounted for 22% of attacks, with manufacturing and energy tying for third place at 11%.
The report features data IBM collected globally in 2022 to deliver insightful information about the global threat landscape and inform the security community about the threats most relevant to their organizations. You can download a copy of the 2023 IBM Security X-Force Threat Intelligence Report here.
Additional sources
- Read more about the report’s top findings in this IBM Security Intelligence blog.
- Sign up for the 2023 IBM Security X-Force Threat Intelligence Index webinar on Thursday, March 2, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. ET here
- Schedule a consult with IBM Security X-Force
MultiChoice Group, Rapyd and General Catalyst have entered into a joint venture agreement aimed at developing an integrated payment platform for Africa. The joint venture will operate under a new company, called Moment.
Moment offers expanded payment infrastructure for businesses across Africa to help them collect and make payments easier, quicker, and more affordable in any manner that their buyers or suppliers prefer.
Moment will also offer additional options for consumers to spend and save money more wisely. The aim is to transform the African payments landscape by making digital payments more accessible and reliable for domestic, cross-border and global payments.
“We are excited about our venture with Rapyd and General Catalyst. It will address the need for an accessible and reliable payment platform for many small businesses and millions of consumers in Africa.
“Investing in this venture is a logical progression for us, as we already process payments every month from 22 million households across 50 countries in Africa.
“Moment fulfills our strategy to expand our ecosystem, by investing in adjacent businesses that provide scalable services, underpinned by technology”, said Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO.
Moment will consolidate the $3.5B in payments that the MultiChoice Group processes annually to expand options for subscribers and make payment processes efficiently, as well as extend Africa’s most complete payment network to African and global businesses.
“We are thrilled to be able to partner with MultiChoice and our network partners to provide Africa’s most complete payment platform for businesses through Moment.
“Africa is one of the most exciting markets in the world – with tremendous opportunities to expand the use of digital payments, drive cash payments to real-time digital payments, and to capitalise on the tremendous entrepreneurial drive of African businesses,” says Arik Shtilman, CEO of Rapyd.
“Africa represents one of the most exciting investment opportunities for global investors. Over the next 20 years, most of the population growth of the world will be happening in Africa, along with increasing urbanisation.
“African consumers and businesses are not only moving business online, but will be the labour force for the world across the next 20 years,” adds Adam Valkin, Managing Director at General Catalyst Partners.
The long-term plan is to provide the infrastructure for pan-African payments for the 44 million small businesses operating on the continent. It is also to turn the 90% of retail transactions that are currently taking place in cash, into digital payments.
Moment aims to make digital transactions more accessible to the 350 million consumers that are underbanked or not banked at all.
Some of Moment’s long term service offering include:
- Payments across 40+ countries in Africa through 200+ locally preferred payment methods to collect, disburse and manage risk.
- Drive adoption of PayShap, TCIB, NQR, and other real-time payment methods across all markets.
- Global-Africa trade for importers and exporters with virtual accounts in 40+ currencies and local payments in 130+ countries.
- Payment tools, deep inventory to sell and financial services for micro-entrepreneurs and SMEs.
- Offering consumers payments, savings and rewards.
“Moment gives MultiChoice another opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the economic development of the African continent. It will play a key role in accelerating cash-to-digital payments for all consumers and businesses and making the continent more investment ready for global players, by connecting payments from Africa to the world,” Mawela concluded.
Clickatell, a pioneer in mobile messaging and Chat Commerce innovation, was acknowledged by Nigeria Communications Week as the winner in the Business Efficiency Solutions Provider of the Year category as part of their 14th Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership (ABoICT) Awards, held on 27 May at the Lagos Oriental Hotels, Lekki.
A respected local technology publication, acknowledges and champions through the awards best practices and outstanding contributions to the growth of the ICT sector. Clickatell was declared a winner in its category through a voting process that included business leaders, readers, as well as independent quality experts.
In a letter announcing the achievement, Ken Nwogbo, Editor In-Chief of Nigeria Communications Week said, “This is a testament to your talents, innovations, contributions and commitments to the growth of the ICT industry, and we are happy that Nigerians have recognized your hard work, sincerity and dedication towards the development of the ICT industry.”
Speaking after the awards ceremony and annual ABoICT lecture delivered this year by Dr. Krishnan Ranganath, Regional Executive, West Africa, Africa Data Centres FZE Nigeria, Clickatell’s Samson Isa, Regional Managing Director, West Africa, shared his thoughts on the past year and what the award means for the company and his team.
“We are delighted to once again be recognized by our peers at this prestigious event. Over the past year we have seen a marked increase in awareness of chat commerce with some great success stories coming from early adopters.
“Over the last 12 months, Clickatell has expanded to provide new and full commerce experiences in mobile messaging channels and worked closely with local customers to begin their chat commerce journey.
“We have helped them to optimize their processes, improve efficiencies and ultimately reduce costs.
“It is a great honor to see our efforts formally recognized, not just by our satisfied customers, but by the industry in general here tonight,” Isa said.
According to Isa, companies in the banking and aviation sectors have shown particularly strong interest in the opportunities offered by chat commerce, and he says transactions on Clickatell’s Chat Commerce Platform have increased by over 25% compared to 2022.
According to Isa, chat commerce is also set to revolutionize the retail sector in the coming months.
“Despite the many macro-economic pressures of the last year, we are pleased to see our business expanding into more verticals as Nigerian business leaders become more familiar with chat commerce.
“We believe this will continue into 2024 and beyond. We are grateful to the organizers for creating platforms such as this, where the industry can salute one another’s efforts.
“We congratulate all the participants and winners and we are proud to be in such excellent company,” Isa added.
Clickatell’s Chat Commerce offering has already been deployed by many respected brands including EcoBank, Wema Bank and Stanbic IBTC Bank. In the past year the company has also added among others CBN, eNaira, and QRIOS tto its list of clients.
Global innovative technology brand TECNO just unveiled its latest breakthrough in material innovation in smartphone design – the “Magic Skin” in Africa, making it the first to bring this innovative material to African consumers.
It is a brand-new material technology that promises to create phone backs that are skin-friendly, stylish, and easy to clean. This new material will be integrated into the body of TECNO’s phones and applied to CAMON, SPARK, and POP series, ensuring African consumers stay abreast of the global trends on smartphone design innovations.
Stylish Design with Skin-friendly Touch
Magic Skin boasts a sleek and stylish design with a delicate texture, a softer touch, and a better color effect. The phone’s back cover’s vivid colors and vibrant patterns make it chic. TECNO has meticulously tailored Magic Skin to suit the distinctive positioning of each product line, giving each product its unique style.
The design is the outcome of extensive user research. TECNO designers surveyed thousands of African consumers to understand their aesthetic preferences and functional demands. The team then refined every aspect of the process, from perfecting the color implementation to scrutinizing the quality of the patterns.
Moreover, Magic Skin has been engineered to reduce the weight and thickness of the back cover while maintaining durability and practicality. This creates a more seamless integration with the phone, resulting in a comfortable grip.
Dense Molecular Structure Provides Stain Resistance
The benefits of Magic Skin extend far beyond its aesthetic appeal. It is not only visually pleasing but also easy to clean. To achieve optimal performance, a variety of materials were tested and evaluated. The final launch of Magic Skin is a unique blend of polymers and micro-particles that create a very dense molecular structure.
This dense molecular structure makes the material resistant to stains and spills, making it perfect for everyday use. Whether you spill coffee or wine on your phone case, Magic Skin can be effortlessly wiped clean without leaving any residual marks or stains.
Furthermore, the advanced manufacturing process also ensures that Magic Skin can withstand Furthermore, the advanced manufacturing process ensures that Magic Skin can withstand extreme conditions.
The material is waterproof and resistant to abrasion and can maintain its stability in extreme temperatures ranging from -40°C to 70°C. In laboratory tests, Magic Skin has demonstrated its superiority in various aspects, such as resistance to denim fabric abrasion, prevention of lipstick and perfume stains, and protection against UV light exposure.
Don’t Stop Creating for Consumers
TECNO again demonstrates its unwavering commitment to delivering stylish and innovative designs incorporating the latest technologies by introducing Magic Skin. This launch is just one of the many milestones on TECNO’s journey toward materials and designs innovation as it continues to push the boundaries and create new possibilities for the future..
CBN Vows to Promote Adoption of e-Naira
MultiChoice Group Launches “Moment” an integrated payment platform for Africa
Clickatell Wins Business Efficiency Solutions Provider of the Year @ABoICT Awards
Konga Guarantees Same day Delivery for Mid-Year Shopping Festival
Schneider Electric Reinforces Support to Partners in Achieving Energy Management Goals
Buhari Felicitate with Adenuga on his 70th Birthday
Interswitch Partners Credit Bank of Kenya, IFAD to Deepen Remittance
Airtel Africa Records Double Digit Revenue, 140M Subscriber Base in 2023 Report
NiRA Elect Adesola Akinsanya as New President
FITC Launches Future of Work Academy
Telecom2 days agoMoMo PSB Partners MTN Foundation to Educate Female Entrepreneurs
Telecom2 days agoTecno Debuts Newest Materials of Magic Skin on Smartphone in Africa
News2 days agoSchneider Electric Reinforces Support to Partners in Achieving Energy Management Goals
Telecom18 hours agoClickatell Wins Business Efficiency Solutions Provider of the Year @ABoICT Awards
Telecom18 hours agoMultiChoice Group Launches “Moment” an integrated payment platform for Africa
E-Business18 hours agoKonga Guarantees Same day Delivery for Mid-Year Shopping Festival
E-Financial18 hours agoCBN Vows to Promote Adoption of e-Naira