The Modern and Security Business Group lead for Microsoft Middle East and Africa Emerging Markets, Mohamed El Nemr has warned that cyber threats are rising in Nigeria as most businesses still lack strong identity protection.
According to a report, Nigeria ranked third in Africa, experiencing 16.7 million cyberattacks. South Africa ranked first with 32 million attacks, followed by Kenya at 28.3 million.
“With weak passwords, password spraying, and phishing the entry point for most attacks, identity is the new battle ground of cyberthreats. And for organisations looking to protect themselves, preventing an identity from being misused or stolen, is now the highest priority.
“As part of the first edition of Cyber Signals, Microsoft’s new quarterly cyberthreat intelligence brief, we take a closer look at the dangers of the rising mismatch in scale of identity-focused attacks in relation to levels of organisational preparedness.
He said the brief, which offers an expert perspective into the current threat landscape, aims to be a valuable resource to Chief Information Security Officers in Nigeria, as they navigate the constantly changing threat landscape.
“Cyber Signals aggregates insights we see from our research and security teams on the frontlines, including analysis from our 24 trillion security signals combined with intelligence we track by monitoring more than 40 nation-state groups and 140 threat groups.”
“El Nemr said this is helping push organisations in Nigeria to pay closer attention to digital identities. As it stands, confirming user identities with an additional layer of security is a key priority over the next six to 18 months for 60 percent of businesses in MEA.
“Recognising the danger that comes with remote work and increased digitisation, another 75 percent of companies in MEA are actively investing in identity and access management.
“The right multifactor authentication (MFA) and pass wordless solutions can go a long way in preventing a variety of threats. In fact, according to Cyber Signals, basic security hygiene still protects against 98 percent of attacks.
According to him, attackers are constantly raising the bar. “But leading with identity-focused solutions, including enforcing MFA, adopting passwordless solutions, and creating conditional access policies for all users dramatically improves protection for your devices and data. If identity is the new battle ground, then zero trust is the must-have weapon for fighting back.”
