CAPE TOWN - South Africa is facing far more cyberattacks than most other countries on the continent.
INTERPOL says while no African country is immune to cybercrime South Africa's position as a financial and digital hub makes it a prime target.
The country records significantly more ransomware and distributed denial-of-service attacks than elsewhere in Africa.
According to the recent Cyber Assessment Report, cybercrimes losses in Africa have more than doubled since 2024 reaching $484 million.
The 40-page report, released Monday and based on survey data from 36 African member countries, describes a shift from isolated criminal incidents to what it calls an industrialised, borderless ecosystem.
Losses rose from $192 million in 2024 to $484 million, driven largely by AI-assisted scams, credential theft and automated social engineering.
Neal Jetton, Interpol's cybercrime unit director says criminals are not necessarily targeting South Africa itself. Instead, they are searching for weaknesses in networks and systems.
"I think because of increased digitalisation and perhaps a lack in some areas of data and network security, there are vulnerabilities. Financially motivated criminals do not focus on targeting countries. They are looking specifically for vulnerabilities."
An where they find vulnerabilities, they strike, Jetton adds.
"They [criminals] are going across, scanning networks and seeing where there are vulnerabilities that they can they can exploit.”