As Africa's digital economy expands, with industries like fintech, e-commerce, and agritech growing rapidly, cyberattacks pose a significant threat. A secure digital environment is essential for sustaining investor confidence, driving innovation, and enabling businesses to thrive.

SEACOM announced on October 1 a new partnership with US-based cybersecurity firm Arctic Wolf to enhance its cybersecurity services across Africa, addressing the growing threat landscape on the continent. With cyber-attacks increasingly targeting businesses of all sizes, this collaboration aims to provide SEACOM’s clients with advanced security operations solutions through Arctic Wolf’s cloud-native platform and expert security teams.

The partnership enables SEACOM clients to benefit from proactive and tailored protection against current and emerging threats. SEACOM emphasizes that Arctic Wolf’s platform will offer comprehensive visibility into customers' attack surfaces, allowing businesses to monitor their entire security environment from one central interface. This approach ensures rapid identification and response to malicious activities or vulnerabilities.

SEACOM’s portfolio will now include Arctic Wolf's suite of security solutions, such as Managed Detection and Response, Incident Response, and Cloud Security Posture Management.

Cybercrime is a growing threat in Africa, with ransomware attacks becoming more frequent. According to the ‘INTERPOL African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2024,’ in early 2023, 1 in 15 African organizations experienced weekly ransomware attempts, much higher than the global average of 1 in 31. It adds that Kaspersky recorded over 300 attempts in South Africa in just one week. The financial impact of cybercrime in Africa is immense, with INTERPOL’s 2021 report estimating it at over $4 billion, or 10% of the region’s GDP. Additionally, cyberattacks on African organizations increased by 23% in 2023, marking the highest rate globally.

The growing threat particularly affects businesses and organizations lacking the resources to effectively monitor and respond to security incidents. This move highlights the need for advanced security strategies to safeguard operations in an increasingly digital world.

Hikmatu Bilali