Cybercrime has become a growing concern for African states since the early 2000s, with telecommunication operators and banks in West Africa being the most common targets.
An expert and consultant in cyber security gave an interview to “VATICAN NEWS”, in which she invited African states to adopt strategies to effectively fight against this phenomenon.
8 out of 12 West African countries have been victims of cybercrime. This was revealed in a report by Group IB, a specialist cybersecurity structure based in Singapore.
This report announced that between 2018 and 2022, more than 30 attacks carried out by a group of hackers called Opera 1 targeted banks, financial services, or communication operators in these African countries.
The 8 African countries that have been victims of these attacks are Senegal, Nigeria, Mali, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Sierra Leone, and Niger.
According to Yena Kignaman Soro, the scam takes several forms, such as sending e-mails or spam, hacking, infringement of intellectual property rights, introducing viruses into computer systems, etc.
Other mystical practices are recurrent in West Africa, especially in Côte d’Ivoire or Benin where hackers consult marabouts or natural healers to favor their chances of scamming, explained the consultant.
As for solutions, Kignaman Soro suggests investing in raising the awareness of the population and in strengthening strategies to fight against this phenomenon, favoring in this context the public-private partnership.