NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 2 – Seventy-nine percent of Kenyan, South Africans, and Zimbabwean businesses have attributed an increase in Cyber Security threats to the advent of remote working, research by Liquid Intelligent Technologies has revealed.
The study noted that more than 90 percent of IT decision-makers have however accelerated their Cyber Security as more of its workforce continues to shift to working through digital platforms.
“According to the research, managing user access to information, data loss and recovery, visibility and control of data, and compliance challenges remain some of the biggest concerns for organizations,” the study noted.
Almost 80 percent of organizations that participated in the research noted that Cyber Security threats have increased over the past year.
The study further noted that data breaches like data extortion, data leakage, and data disclosure constituted almost 71 percent of the cyber-attacks for Kenyan businesses.
“Over 70% of South African and Zimbabwean organizations consider email attacks like Phishing the most prominent digital threats,” it added.
Security and data protection was listed by 53 percent of the respondents as a major significant challenge in 2021.
The research also pointed out Email attacks, Web-based attacks, Social Engineering, Malware, Ransomware, and Data Breaches to be the top concerns around Cyber Security in 2021.
“Managing user access to information, data loss and recovery, visibility and control of data, and compliance challenges remain some of the biggest concerns for organizations,” the study noted.
The participants from the research also indicated an increased consumption of Cloud-based services this year, with the numbers being as high as 96 percent in South Africa, 95 percent in Kenya, and 75 percent in Zimbabwe.
While commenting on the study, Ignus de Villiers, Group Head of Cyber Security, Liquid Intelligent Technologies noted that Cyber Security should be at the center of every business conversation.
He urged companies to establish an appropriate Cyber Security Framework that matches the business environment.
“Critically, the framework must look beyond technical security controls to include information security management covering governance, risk, compliance, people, processes, and technology,” he said.
