Nigeria Ranks Among Africa’s Most Targeted Countries by Cyberattacks in 2025

Cyberattacks Surge in Nigeria: Country Among Most Targeted in Africa in November 2025
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Nigeria emerged as one of the most targeted countries in Africa for cyberattacks in November 2025, according to a new Global Threat Intelligence report released by Check Point Research.

The report revealed that organisations in Nigeria faced an average of 3,374 cyberattacks per week, ranking the country second in Africa, behind Angola, which recorded 4,251 attacks per organisation weekly. Kenya and South Africa followed with 2,384 and 1,863 attacks per week, respectively.

Rising Threats Amid Africa-Wide Decline

While Africa experienced a 13% year-on-year decline in cyberattacks, Nigeria’s high numbers indicate its continued exposure, particularly in critical sectors such as government, financial services, and consumer goods.

Globally, organisations faced 2,003 cyberattacks per week, marking a 3% increase from October and a 4% rise year-on-year. Experts attribute the growth to ransomware proliferation and emerging risks from the rapid adoption of generative AI (GenAI) tools.

Education and Government Sectors Under Pressure

The report highlighted the education sector as the most attacked globally, with institutions recording an average of 4,656 attacks per organisation per week in November, up 7% year-on-year. Government institutions followed with 2,716 weekly attacks, while associations and non-profits saw a 57% surge to 2,550 attacks per week.

Generative AI has introduced new cyber risks. Check Point Research found that 1 in 35 GenAI prompts submitted from enterprise networks posed a high risk of sensitive data leakage. Overall, 87% of organisations using GenAI tools were affected by high-risk prompts, while 22% contained potentially sensitive data, including internal communications, customer information, proprietary code, and personal identifiers.

On average, organisations now use 11 different GenAI tools monthly, many operating outside formal security governance frameworks, increasing the likelihood of accidental data exposure and creating new entry points for cybercriminals.

Ransomware Accelerates Worldwide

Ransomware remained one of the most damaging threats in November 2025, with 727 publicly reported incidents, a 22% year-on-year increase. While North America accounted for 55% of cases and Europe 18%, the impact was felt across emerging markets, including Africa.

Leading ransomware groups, including Qilin, Clop, and Akira, were responsible for a significant share of attacks. Regionally, Latin America recorded the highest volumes with 3,048 attacks per organisation per week, up 17% year-on-year. Africa saw a decline, Europe a slight decrease, and North America a 9% increase, while Asia-Pacific remained relatively flat.

Implications for Nigeria

The report’s findings highlight the growing digital risks facing Nigeria amid ongoing efforts to expand digital transformation across finance, education, telecommunications, and government sectors.

During the last general elections, the government successfully blocked over 200 cyberattacks targeting INEC’s digital infrastructure, demonstrating the critical need for robust cybersecurity measures.

As Nigeria continues to digitize, experts say organisations must strengthen cyber resilience, AI governance, and ransomware mitigation strategies to protect sensitive data and national digital infrastructure.