Firms at high risk of cybercrime

Kenyan businesses and their employees are at high risk of falling victim to cybercrime.

According to a survey done by APO in eight African countries, people living on the continent are not prepared for cyber threats on their companies and personal computers.

Sixty-five per cent of respondents in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritius and Botswana were not well informed about how to deal with cybercrime.

Of the countries surveyed, Kenyans (75 per cent) and South Africans (74 per cent) were the most concerned about the risk of cybercrime and yet they were comfortable giving away their personal information as long as they understood what it was being used for, with Kenyans at 26.59 per cent and South Africans at 57 per cent. 

This is a worrying trend because many phishing scams will use any means necessary to tease out valuable nuggets of personal information and phone calls or emails from so-called ‘trusted sources’.

According to the report, employee training is important considering that they are not aware of how their use of free WiFi networks can potentially infect the organisation, nor are they as aware of email and phishing threats as they believe.

The report says most Kenyans are not aware of how cybercriminals operate and the tools they use.

More than half of the population (67 per cent) have had their personal computers infected without their knowledge.