Africa Records Highest Weekly Cyberattacks Amid GenAI Surge

Africa has emerged as the most targeted region for cyberattacks globally, with organisations on the continent experiencing an average of 2,902 attacks per week in September, according to the latest Global Threat Intelligence Report by Check Point Research.

The report revealed that the telecommunications, government, and consumer goods and services sectors were the most attacked industries across the continent.

Among African nations, Angola recorded the highest number of weekly attacks per organisation (3,045), followed by Kenya (3,000), Nigeria (2,749), and South Africa (2,054).

GenAI fueling new wave of cyber threats

According to Lorna Hardie, Regional Director for Africa at Check Point Software Technologies, the surge in attacks is closely linked to the growing use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).

“As Africans, we are deeply concerned about the continent’s vulnerability to cyberattacks, especially as many of the incidents in September were prompted by the use of generative AI,” Hardie said.
“The only sustainable defence is a prevention-first strategy powered by real-time AI.”

Globally, organisations faced an average of 1,900 cyberattacks per week in September — far below Africa’s figures.

The report highlighted that one in every 54 GenAI prompts poses a high risk of data leakage, while 91% of organisations using such tools have faced exposure risks. About 15% of AI prompts contained sensitive information, such as customer data or proprietary code.

Ransomware remains the biggest threat

Omer Dembinsky, Data Research Manager at Check Point, noted that although the total number of attacks slightly decreased, their impact and sophistication have intensified.

“Ransomware remains the most destructive force, while the emergence of GenAI-related data leakage adds a new dimension of risk,” he said.

Globally, the education sector was the most targeted, averaging 4,175 weekly attacks per organisation, followed by telecommunications (2,703) and government (2,512) sectors.

In comparison, Latin America recorded 2,826 weekly attacks, Asia-Pacific had 2,668, Europe averaged 1,577, and North America reported 1,468, with the latter experiencing a 17% year-on-year rise due to ransomware.

Rising ransomware groups

In September alone, 562 ransomware incidents were publicly reported worldwide — a 46% increase year-on-year.
North America accounted for 54% of these cases, while Europe represented 19%.

The top three ransomware groups identified were Qilin, Play, and Akira, responsible for over 30% of all known attacks. Qilin, a leading Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) group, continues to expand aggressively, while Play and Akira are increasingly targeting manufacturing and business services.

Strengthening cyber resilience

Check Point warned that as GenAI tools become integrated into enterprise environments, organisations must adopt stronger governance and proactive cybersecurity frameworks to mitigate data exposure.

“Only through a prevention-first approach can organisations stay ahead and protect critical operations from relentless adversaries,” Hardie stressed.

Check Point Software Technologies, a Nasdaq-listed cybersecurity firm, currently protects more than 100,000 organisations worldwide through its AI-powered Infinity Platform and ThreatCloud intelligence network.