Kenya's cyber threats surge to 840.9 million in three months

Kenya has seen a dramatic rise in cyber threats, with a total of 840.9 million incidents recorded between October and December 2024, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).

This marks a 27.2 percent increase from the 657.8 million threats detected in the previous quarter, raising concerns over the country's cybersecurity.

The report highlights that system vulnerabilities were the most common cause of these attacks, accounting for 752.4 million incidents, a 28.9 percent rise compared to the previous quarter.

Malware incidents also saw a slight increase, reaching 33.9 million.

However, the most alarming rise was observed in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks.

These attacks, where cybercriminals flood a server with excessive traffic to prevent users from accessing online services, surged by 727 percent, growing from 1,826,259 incidents in the first quarter to 15,095,217 by the end of December.

Other cyber threats also saw an uptick.

Web application attacks increased from 3,520,651 to 4,542,939, while mobile app attacks rose from 117,661 to 138,175.

The surge in cyber threats coincided with a significant rise in smartphone usage.

According to the CA, smartphone penetration reached 80.5 percent during the review period, while feature phone usage dropped to 59.3 percent.

This increase is attributed to the expansion of mobile broadband networks, which now cover 97 percent of the population.

“The rapid uptake in smartphones is attributable to the increased expansion of mobile broadband networks across the country that currently stands at 97.0 percent population coverage,” the CA stated.

“Increased availability and affordability of smartphones coupled with increased demand for access to digital services have significantly boosted smartphone penetration.”

The report also notes a 2 percent increase in active mobile subscriptions, up from 1.6 percent in the previous quarter.

This rise is attributed to the festive season, which pushed active SIM card subscriptions to 71.4 million, leading to a penetration rate of 138.5 percent.

Safaricom maintained its dominance in the mobile service market, holding a 65.2 percent market share, followed by Airtel with 30.1 percent and Telkom with 1.6 percent.

Mobile money services, including M-Pesa and Airtel Money, also saw a 4.1% increase, reaching 42.3 million users and achieving a penetration rate of 82.1 percent.