Researchers at Kaspersky keep a close eye on Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) and are observing 9 active threat actors that currently target organisations in Africa. Whilst these threat actors target a wide range of entities, Kaspersky researchers identified Government, Energy and Telecommunications as the top targets in Africa.

APT groups are complex threat actors that deploy targeted attacks, active for years on end. These groups are often motivated by espionage, monetary gain, or in some cases, hacktivism. According to Kaspersky Intelligence, some of the most prominent groups in the region are MuddyWater, FruityArmor, Sidewinder. Kaspersky also works with legal authorities, providing them with the intelligence needed to track cybercriminals behind these attacks.

These threat actors use a wide range of techniques to infiltrate their victims in the region. Social engineering is a common tactic used on social media or email, such as posting a fake job advert targeting software developers. APT groups also deploy sophisticated modular malware like DeadGlyph and StealerBot, as well as weaponising legitimate, remote applications, online services and cloud platforms – a technique used by MuddyWater APT group to penetrate the targeted site. Furthermore, these groups can target third-party providers and infiltrate their victims through supply chains.

“The current geopolitical climate is a hotbed for APT activity, therefore, investigating these attacks and gaining intelligence on their movement is vital for security teams and corporations in Africa. Our research allows businesses and government entities to determine the significance of the threat posed, understand the attackers’ next move and accordingly be able to take the appropriate security steps to protect themselves,” said Amin Hasbini, Head of Global Research and Analysis team for Middle East, Turkiye and Africa at Kaspersky.

With every APT investigation, Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) publish comprehensive reports, available on Kaspersky’s Threat Intelligence Portal (https://apo-opa.co/3XTZYyc). The reports offer crucial APT detection and forensic capabilities, enabling effective mitigation and remediation.

To avoid falling victim to a targeted attack by APT groups, Kaspersky researchers also recommend implementing the following measures:

1. Limit access to third parties and require continuous inspection of access within their supply chain.
2. For endpoint-level detection, investigation, and timely remediation of incidents, implement EDR solutions such as Kaspersky Next.
3. In addition to adopting essential endpoint protection, implement a corporate-grade security solution that detects advanced threats on the network level at an early stage, such as the Kaspersky Anti-Targeted Attack Platform.
4. The energy sector and other critical infrastructures should use security solutions for operation technology endpoints and networks, such as Kaspersky Industrial CyberSecurity, to ensure comprehensive protection for all systems.
5. Upskill your cybersecurity team to tackle the latest threats with Kaspersky online training, developed by GReAT experts.
6. Educate employees depending on their IT knowledge with cybersecurity courses such as those available within the Kaspersky Security Awareness Platform.

Liquid Networks, a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, today announced the launch of its Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Secure offering to its customers. The solution is designed to proactively mitigate attacks by scrubbing traffic and blocking known attackers or malicious traffic.

“Cyber Attacks are at an all-time high; cyber security threats cost the African GDP almost a whopping US$4.1 billion in 2021. And, DDoS are on top of the cyber security attacks; the staggering cost to our GDP is proof enough that no business can afford to be without a layer of protection against them. While DDoS attacks have evolved over the years, our offering is equally sophisticated. With traffic scrubbed at one of our four scrubbing centres, customers can focus on their core business requirements while keeping them safe from DDoS attacks,” says Ahmad Mokhles, CEO of Liquid Networks.

The service is being offered to all potential Internet & IP transit clients and provided to all existing customers in regions where Liquid has operations across Africa access to a proactive protection service. With DDoS Secure, clients can have peace of mind, knowing that their business’s reputation, income, and network are protected. The service also offers them the potential for growth and partnerships through DDoS compliance.

While protecting clients’ networks and operations, DDoS Secure also gives them a line of sight about attempted attacks through post-incident reports on all mitigations completed. In addition, with the recent launch of  Liquid’s Next-Gen Cyber Security Fusion Centre, the organisation will be able to monitor all online activity live and deter an attack before it reaches your network.

“With this measure in place, there will be higher visibility of potential attacks, and we will be able to mitigate threats and proactively secure businesses automatically. In addition, we can now manage and protect our customers in real-time. Yet, another achievement as Liquid Cyber Security introduces a solution that brings the world’s best practices in protecting against DDoS attacks,” concluded Mohkles.

With digital transformation, a top priority on the corporate agenda as companies identify new ways to grow their business, cyber attackers and opportunist cybercriminals remain very active. And although Africa is not necessarily considered a focus area for the more sophisticated types of cybercriminal activity such as targeted attacks or advanced persistent threats (APTs), the continent is certainly not immune to these or other types of cyber risks, warn Kaspersky researchers.

When looking at the general cyber threat landscape as it impacts consumers and businesses, Kaspersky’s research shows that in 2020, worldwide, approximately 10% of computers experienced at least one malware attack. Interestingly, in some African countries, including South Africa, the figure was only slightly under the global 10% average, making the African region comparable to that of North America or Europe in terms of cyberattacks. On some parts of the continent, in countries like Liberia Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco as examples, Kaspersky has seen a slightly higher rate, while other parts show a lower rate – a 5% or 6% average. For the first quarter of 2021, the figures are only slightly lower than 10%, both in relative and absolute terms.

Says David Emm, Principal Security Researcher at Kaspersky; “Generally speaking, and based on our research, Africa has the same hit rate as we would see for other parts of the globe when it comes to cyberattacks and activity. This only emphasises that the cyber threat landscape truly does incorporate the whole globe where no continent or country is free of this growing danger and where all consumers, businesses, and industries alike need to pay attention to effective cybersecurity measures – and especially during the current pandemic and resultant turbulent times.”

In South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, Kaspersky’s research has identified the top malware families as ransomware, financial/banking trojans, and crypto-miner malware. When comparing Q1 2021 with Q2 2021, Kaspersky saw a 24% increase in ransomware in Q2 2021 in South Africa, as well as an increase of 14% in crypto-miner malware. In Kenya and Nigeria, Kaspersky saw a large increase in financial/banking trojans in Q2 2021 when compared to the figures for Q1 2021 – a 59% increase in Kenya and a 32% increase in Nigeria.

While on a technical level, not much has changed when it comes to cyberattacks, what is different is that the pandemic presents a persistent topic in which the world has a vested interest in. So, unlike the Olympics or Valentine’s Day which is limited in terms of a timeline, the pandemic offers a wealth of opportunities for cybercriminals to use malware to attack. Everything from the daily numbers and lockdown restrictions to vaccinations, hackers are leveraging on every aspect of the current situation to compromise systems.

“While the bulk of attacks are still speculative and randomly targeting individuals and businesses, there is a shift happening with the increase of APTs and more strategically targeted based attacks. These use continuous, clandestine, and sophisticated hacking techniques to gain access to a system and remain inside for a prolonged period, with potentially destructive consequences. Because of the time and effort required to perpetrate such an attack, these are often levelled at high-value targets, such as nation-states and large businesses,” adds Emm.

Furthermore, another concern is that as the cyberthreat landscape evolves, the nature of malware is changing.

Continues Emm, “Take ransomware as an example. In the beginning, it was very random targeting as many people as possible hoping for a relatively small amount of money paid in ransom. During the past five years, there has been a shift with a decline in the number of ransomware families being developed as well as an overall global decline in attacks. However, attackers are now focusing on specific companies and individuals where they can get the maximum benefit. The new approach of ransomware is to expose data, negatively impacting the reputation of a company. To this effect, financial crime has become more sophisticated and organised.”

The financial services sector remains a top targeted industry in Africa when it comes to cybercriminal activity and such cyber threats – not surprising when one considers the digital-first approach this sector continues to take, driven by the needs and expectations of its customers.

“It is relatively easy for a hacker to target an individual and capture passcodes, one-time passwords, and install malware on their computers to get financial information. Increasingly, this is expanding to financial institutions given the sheer number of new entrants in the market emerging. For hackers, online or cyber fraud offers direct monetisation of an attack and gives them access to money as quickly as possible,” adds Emm.

Financial-based malware and cyberattacks are also becoming more targeted, complicated, and difficult to prevent, and with digital transformation progressing at a rapid rate within such a sector, there is no shortage of attack surfaces for cybercriminals to exploit.

“In a world where cybercrime remains rife and is only fuelled by aspects like the pandemic, there is never a moment one should not consider the implications of a cyberattack, especially as the cyberthreat landscape evolves and become even more targeted and sophisticated than it was a mere few years ago. Cybercrime is a business. This means that consumers and companies alike must remain vigilant against an increasing attack surface. Not only does this entail a more focused cyber training approach for staff within an organisation, but also using the latest technologies that feature artificial intelligence and machine learning for accurate and proactive protection and prevention in real-time,” concludes Emm.