SMALL and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria face more cyber threats with attacks increasing by 89 per cent last year.
Kaspersky, a Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider, disclosed this, noting that when a small business owner is faced with the responsibilities of production, financial reports and marketing at the same time, cybersecurity worry is an unnecessary challenge.
According to Kaspersky researchers, which assessed the dynamics of attacks on SMEs between January and April 2022 and the same period in 2021, they warned that these threats pose an increasing danger to entrepreneurs.
In 2022, the number of Trojan-Password Stealing Ware (PSW) detections in Nigeria more than doubled when compared to the same period in 2021 – 2654 detections recorded in 2022 compared to 1076 in 2021.
Trojan-PSW is a malware that steals passwords along with other account information, which then allows attackers to gain access to the corporate network and steal sensitive information.
The cyber security firm noted that another popular attack tool used on small businesses is Internet attacks, specifically, web pages. While the number of these attacks decreased in the first four months of 2022 in Nigeria (56,836 infections in 2022 compared to 99,146 infections in 2021), Internet attacks are still a concern and need to be protected against, the report said.
With the shift towards remote working, many companies have introduced the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), a technology that enables computers on the same corporate network to be linked together and accessed remotely, even when the employees are at home. The number of attacks on RDP has increased significantly in Nigeria, by 89 per cent.
In the first four months of 2021, there were 161,000 RDP attacks detected and blocked by Kaspersky in the country. In the same period in 2022, the number rose to 303,500 attacks.
Having a special security solution enables attack visualisation and provides IT administrators, with a convenient tool for incident analysis. The faster they can analyse where and how a leak occurs, the better they will be able to solve any negative consequences.
The firm explained that the new edition of Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud dubbed Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Pro, contains advanced new capabilities, including automated response options and an extended set of security controls in a single solution.
The Pro version also includes built-in training for IT workers seeking to boost their cybersecurity skills and make the most out of their specialised security products.
