Hackers for hire on prowl, firm warns

A hooded hacker working on a laptop. Cyber security firm Kaspersky has warned Kenya of new threats by hackers.

Pool | Nation Media Group

By  Brian Ambani

Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

• Kaspersky said it has noted rife human cyber threat activity during Covid-19 despite Kenya seeing a 26 percent decrease in cyber-attacks from certain malware groups during the first half of 2020.
• The cyber security firm says these type do not necessarily have monetary motivations in mind but seek to steal sensitive private information by gaining insights on certain markets and trends.

Cyber security firm Kaspersky has warned Kenya of new threats by hackers who are evolving their techniques and tools to steal sensitive personal information.

It said it has seen a rise in hackers-for-hire or cyber mercenaries during the first two quarters of this year noting that three have been exposed across the world.

The cyber security firm says these type do not necessarily have monetary motivations in mind but seek to steal sensitive private information by gaining insights on certain markets and trends.

“For example, a bank might get targeted and have its data analysed to gain an understanding of its market exposure, clients, and back-end systems. A competitor can use that to gain significant benefit. The reality is that in this evolving cyber threat landscape, no company or government institution can consider themselves safe,” it said.

Kaspersky said it has noted rife human cyber threat activity during Covid-19 despite Kenya seeing a 26 percent decrease in cyber-attacks from certain malware groups during the first half of 2020.

Malware attacks

Kaspersky said the trend is uniform across Africa, also noting a fall in malware attacks in South Africa and Nigeria during the same period by 36 and 2.7 percent respectively while attacks from hired hackers rose during the first six months of the year.

“APT (Advanced Persistent Threats) groups are evolving their techniques and are upgrading their toolset to continue stealing sensitive information,” it said.

The firm says countries across Africa will likely see a rise in ransomware attacks following a move by many companies to encourage employees to work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has exposed vulnerabilities in workers’ computers away from secured company systems.

bambani@ke.nationmedia.com