Hackers target regional energy, utilities sectors

Nigeria is grappling with an alarming escalation in cyber threats, recording a staggering 45 per cent rise in malicious activities.

Recent data revealed that the country now faces an average of 4,906 weekly attacks in August 2026, underscoring the urgent need for enhanced cybersecurity measures to safeguard businesses, government institutions, and individuals from increasingly sophisticated digital assaults.

Specifically, the figure, contained in the latest Global Threat Intelligence report by Check Point Research, the threat intelligence arm of Check Point Software Technologies, showed that cyber threats continued to intensify globally last month.

Check Point revealed that Nigeria’s average was more than twice the global figure of 2,422 weekly attacks per organisation and was second only to Angola among the four African countries covered in the report.

Angola recorded 5,416 weekly attacks per organisation, up 47 per cent year on year, while Kenya recorded 3,658 attacks, up six per cent. South Africa recorded 2,086 weekly attacks, down three per cent year on year.

Globally, African organisations experienced an average of 3,335 attacks per organisation per week in August, up from 3,237 in July.

Organisations recorded 2,422 weekly attacks in August, representing a four per cent month-on-month increase and a 22 per cent increase from August 2025.

According to Check Point, the Energy and Utilities sector was the most targeted industry in Africa in August, followed by financial services and government institutions.

Regional Director for Africa at Check Point Software, Lorna Hardie, described the trend as a red flag, given the importance of energy infrastructure to national economies.