According to the latest sector statistics released by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), cyber threats skyrocketed to 2.5 billion incidents, up from 840.9 million in the previous quarter.

This alarming rise is one of the sharpest in recent years and highlights growing vulnerabilities across critical sectors such as finance, telecommunications, and government systems.

In response, the CA issued 13.2 million cybersecurity advisories, marking a 14.2% increase from 11.6 million advisories the previous quarter.

The most significant growth was observed in system vulnerabilities, which surged by 228.3% to 2.47 billion threats, compared to 752.4 million previously. These vulnerabilities include unpatched software, weak passwords, outdated encryption methods, and insecure network configurations, common weaknesses that attackers exploit to gain access.

Web application attacks, targeting vulnerabilities in websites and online platforms, also rose by 11.8%, reaching 5.08 million threats. These attacks often aim to steal data, disrupt services, or gain unauthorised access.

Interestingly, not all threat categories saw an increase. The report notes a decline in several traditional cyberattack methods:

The rise in cyber threats is attributed in part to the increasing sophistication of cybercriminal networks. A study by the World Economic Forum (WEF) reveals that cyberattacks now take less than four days to execute, compared to about 60 days in 2019.

According to the WEF, this speed is driven by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, which are now being used by threat actors to write code and generate more sophisticated forms of malware and ransomware.

“Threat actors are already using AI-powered language models like ChatGPT to write code,” the report states. “Generative AI is helping even less experienced hackers create new ransomware strains, significantly increasing attack volumes.”

The WEF also warns that the widespread ownership of smartphones, laptops, and tablets is creating a vast attack surface for cybercriminals.

“We expect increased use of AI by malicious actors in the near future,” the report concludes, “making it urgent to implement stronger, more adaptive cybersecurity measures.”