Cybercrime threat rises in Africa as mobile banking grows: Interpol

Interpol surveyed law enforcement agencies in 43 African countries, and also used data from private cybersecurity companies and open source information for its report.

Cybercrime has resulted in high financial costs in some of Africa’s biggest economies in recent years. A notable rise in cybercrime in South Africa in 2023 led to more than $180 million in losses for local banks and their customers, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre said. Banking app fraud was the main source of attacks, it said.

Attacks are becoming more sophisticated, especially with the strategic use of artificial intelligence and social media manipulation by criminals, Interpol said. The trend is helped by the widespread increase in digital services.

Incidences of banking information theft online have reduced across Africa with improved law enforcement measures, but they also remain serious cyberthreats, the report said. Many African countries “still lack adequate cybersecurity measures” to counter the rise in attacks. Less than a third of countries have databases for cyberthreat intelligence or systems for reporting incidents, for example.

Reforming cybercrime laws, increasing public awareness, and strengthening international cooperation are all necessary for Africa to combat cybercrime. But the backbone to an effective response would be “sustained investment in national capacity,” the report said.

Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa have advanced their cybersecurity architecture through investments in cybersecurity awareness, but even these countries must beware as the use of deepfake video technology is testing the durability of their systems, Interpol said.

About 320 million people in Africa now have access to mobile internet, a number that will grow to half a million by 2030. More than half of the continent’s 1 billion mobile SIM connections are in smartphones, according to the GSMA, a mobile industry body. While these trends power digital inclusion, they have increased the targeting of mobile platforms by cybercriminals, especially in countries where mobile banking services are growing, Interpol said.

Cybersecurity spending in South Africa is below 0.25% of gross domestic product annually, “a concern given the high cost of data breaches,” the South African Reserve Bank said in a report this month on the country’s financial stability.

It said that while the cost of breaches fell slightly to $2.78 million last year, the country was still vulnerable to cybercrime, with electricity supply challenges and the lack of robust security protocols on backup power systems underscoring those vulnerabilities.