Africa has been named the most targeted region for cyberattacks worldwide, with organisations across the continent facing an average of 2,902 attacks per week in September, according to a new report from Check Point Research.
The Global Threat Intelligence Report, published by the threat intelligence division of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., revealed that the telecommunications, government, and consumer goods and services sectors were the most affected industries in Africa.
Among the hardest-hit countries, Angola recorded the highest number of weekly attacks per organisation at 3,045, followed by Kenya (3,000), Nigeria (2,749), and South Africa (2,054).
Lorna Hardie, Regional Director for Africa at Check Point Software Technologies, linked the surge to the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools across the continent.
“As Africans, we are deeply concerned about the continent’s vulnerability to cyberattacks, especially as many of the incidents in September were prompted by the use of generative AI,” said Hardie. “The only sustainable defence is a prevention-first strategy powered by real-time AI, ensuring protection across the network, cloud, endpoints, and identities.”
Globally, organisations averaged 1,900 cyberattacks per week during the same period — underscoring the scale of Africa’s exposure compared to other regions.
The report warned that the increased use of GenAI tools in enterprises has introduced new risks, noting that one in every 54 AI prompts posed a high risk of sensitive data leakage. Additionally, 91% of organisations using GenAI regularly were affected by such risks, with 15% of prompts containing confidential data such as customer information or proprietary code.
Omer Dembinsky, Data Research Manager at Check Point Research, noted that although the number of attacks has slightly declined, their impact and sophistication continue to grow.
“September’s threat data shows that while the overall volume of attacks has eased slightly, the impact and sophistication of cyber threats are intensifying,” Dembinsky said. “Ransomware remains the most destructive force, while the emergence of GenAI-related data leakage adds a new dimension of risk for organisations.”
Globally, the education sector was the most targeted, averaging 4,175 weekly attacks per organisation, followed by telecommunications (2,703) and government (2,512).
While Africa topped the list regionally, other parts of the world were also heavily impacted. Latin America reported 2,826 weekly attacks per organisation, followed by Asia-Pacific (2,668), Europe (1,577), and North America (1,468) — the latter experiencing a 17% year-on-year increase, largely driven by ransomware.
Ransomware incidents surged to 562 publicly reported cases globally in September, representing a 46% year-on-year increase. North America accounted for 54% of those incidents, while Europe represented 19%.
The report identified Qilin, Play, and Akira as the top ransomware groups, collectively responsible for over 30% of known attacks. Qilin, one of the most aggressive Ransomware-as-a-Service operators, continues to expand rapidly, while Play and Akira are increasingly targeting manufacturing and business service sectors using advanced encryption techniques.
Check Point concluded that the growing integration of GenAI into enterprise operations demands stronger governance and proactive cybersecurity frameworks to reduce data exposure risks.
“Only through a prevention-first approach can organisations stay ahead and protect critical operations from relentless adversaries,” added Hardie.
Check Point Software Technologies, listed on Nasdaq, offers AI-driven cybersecurity solutions protecting over 100,000 organisations worldwide through its Infinity Platform and ThreatCloud intelligence network.
