Nigerian organisations are now facing the highest volume of weekly cyberattacks on the continent, according to the newly released African Perspectives on Cyber Security Report 2025 by Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., a global leader in cybersecurity solutions. The study shows that Nigerian firms are targeted an average of 4,200 times per week, far exceeding the African average of 3,153 and standing 60 per cent above the global average of 1,963 attacks per organisation.
The surge, the report notes, is being driven largely by AI-enabled threats, which are accelerating the speed, scale, and sophistication of cyberattacks across Africa. Kingsley Oseghale, Country Manager for West Africa at Check Point, explained that attackers are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to automate malicious campaigns.
“AI has become part of the attack surface,” Oseghale said. “Attackers are using it to automate phishing and identity theft at scale. The only effective response is prevention-first security that combines visibility, governance, and AI protection.”
According to the findings, cybercriminals are exploiting exposed identities, misconfigurations, and weak controls to target critical sectors such as finance, energy, telecoms, and government. Identity-led intrusions, AI-generated phishing, and multi-vector ransomware attacks continue to escalate, placing pressure on organisations with limited defensive capacity.
Nigeria at the Center of Shifting Cyber Risks Across Africa
The report also highlights trends across key African markets. Nigeria is grappling with rising cases of business email compromise and cloud exploitation. In South Africa, ransomware, smishing, and botnet infections—such as Vo1d and XorDDoS—are becoming more widespread. Kenya has witnessed ransomware attacks against critical energy infrastructure, while Morocco has suffered coordinated disruptions in government and education systems through DDoS attacks and website defacement.
Five major shifts are shaping Africa’s cyber risk landscape in 2025, according to Check Point. Traditional ransomware has evolved into data-leak extortion, AI-generated deception is rapidly increasing, and identity has emerged as the new security perimeter. The report further warns that weak cybersecurity can now directly impact international market access, particularly under regulations such as the EU’s NIS2 Directive, making digital resilience not just a security issue but an economic imperative.
Given these developments, the study calls on African governments and businesses to prioritise prevention-first security strategies, continuous risk assessments, and stronger public-private collaboration. Oseghale stressed that as AI becomes more deeply embedded in operations, the continent’s cybersecurity posture must become more proactive. “The real challenge is not adopting new technology but securing the trust that underpins it,” he said.
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