NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 24 – The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has reported a significant decrease in cyber threats in the country, according to its first quarter sector statistics for the financial year 2024/2025.
The report revealed that between July and September 2024, the number of cyber threat cases fell to 657.8 million from 1.1 billion cases recorded between April and June of the same year, marking a nearly 42% drop.
This decline follows a year of heightened scrutiny, as Kenya was recently listed by Interpol among 19 African nations facing significant cybercrime activity.
The countries highlighted include Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Despite the overall reduction in cyber threats, Kenya’s cybersecurity landscape remains fraught with challenges.
In November 2024, Interpol arrested 24 individuals in Kenya connected to cybercrime activities.
“In Kenya, officers cracked a case of online credit card fraud linked to losses of USD 8.6 million. The funds, stolen through fraudulent scripts run after altering the banking system’s security protocol, were promptly redistributed by the group via SWIFT to companies in the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, and China and subsequently, to digital asset institutions offering trading and financial services regulated in multiple jurisdictions,” it said in a statement.
Kenya continues to face a variety of cybercrimes, including phishing scams, malware attacks, unauthorized access to systems, identity theft, cyber espionage, and the exploitation of system vulnerabilities.
Phishing, in particular, has emerged as one of the most widespread forms of attack in the region, contributing to the overall rise in reported cybercrimes in recent years.
