Criminals explore FakeUpdates as Nigeria rises on cyber threat index

Activities of cyber criminals appeared to have gained momentum as Nigeria’s cyber threat risk rose in January with the country moving to the 11th position on the threat index for African countries.

According to Check Point Software Technologies Ltd in its latest report, eight African countries were listed in the top 20 most attacked in the Global Threat Index for January 2025, which highlighted that FakeUpdates continued to be the major threat actor in the cyber landscape.

Checks showed FakeUpdate is a cyberattack used by a threat group, known as ‘SocGolish’, who compromises or creates fake websites to show visitors fake update prompts for a variety of applications, such as web browsers, Java, VMware Workstation, WebEx, and Proton VPN.

When users click on update prompts designed to appear legitimate, a fake update is downloaded that drops a malicious payload, like info-stealers, cryptocurrency drainers, RATs, and even ransomware.

In the CheckPoint report, Ethiopia ranked the most attacked country with a 100 per cent normalised risk index out of the 109 countries featured in the index. Nigeria has climbed the ranks steadily from 14th in August 2024 to 11th in January 2025, underscoring growing cyber-attacks.

In 2024, CheckPoint noted that Nigeria was one of the most vulnerable to attacks on the continent, highlighting a recent incident where a banking trojan attack compromised 100,000 customer accounts, resulting in $3 million in losses.

Other African countries on the top 20 most attacked list include Zimbabwe at fifth place, Angola at ninth, Uganda at 10th, Kenya at 14th, Ghana at 16th, and Mozambique at 17th positions. South Africa is in 66th position, while Egypt is 97th. Most attacked industries include education, government and telecommunications.

Vice President of Research at Check Point Software, Maya Horowitz, noted: “AI is transforming the cyber threat landscape, with cyber criminals rapidly evolving their methods, leveraging AI to automate and scale their tactics and enhance their capabilities. To effectively combat these threats, organisations must move beyond traditional defences and adopt proactive, adaptive AI-powered security measures that anticipate emerging risks.”