Over the years, Africa has been in the crosshairs of cyber attackers, and the reason is no secret. The shift towards digitalization has brought successes and unwavering opportunities to African businesses and organizations.
The continent’s digital economy contributions to GDP are expected to reach 8.5% by 2050, having grown from just 1.1% in 2012 to 4.5% in 2020, and are now expected to reach 5.2% by the end of 2025.
While digital adoption is great, the conversation extends beyond the positives. Cyberattacks are real, and Africa is not spared.
It will interest you to know how underreported cyberattacks are in Africa. Oftentimes, news featuring cyberattacks leans towards European countries and the West. But there have been several cases in Africa where cyberattacks were transparent and the ramifications were shared with the public.
This article will highlight some of the worst-reported cyber incidents in Africa.
Major Cyber Attacks Reported in Africa
1. Ransomware attack on South Africa’s National Health Laboratory Service (2024)
In June 2024, a ransomware attack orchestrated by the Blacksuit ransomware group crippled the computer systems of South Africa’s National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), and the consequences were felt.
Over 6.3 million blood tests were suspended, leaving millions of lives in danger as the medical processes were disrupted. All 256 laboratories were rendered useless as the email system, website, and other IT components were taken offline.
Health professionals had to revert to manual process where the most urgent test results were delivered via phone calls. After three months, systems were restored and operations went back online.
2. Bank of Uganda hack (2024)
In November 2024, it was reported that a cyberattack struck the Bank of Uganda, with hackers getting away with 62 billion Ugandan shillings ($17 million) in estimated losses.
Initial reports revealed the hacker group called “Waste” was behind siphoning parts of the stolen money to Japan. However, an independent newspaper, the Daily Monitor, suggested that the theft may have involved insiders within the bank.
After further investigations following the attack, nine financial officials were arrested for their involvement in the money heist. They were charged with money laundering, electronic fraud, abuse of office, and corruption.
3. Security Breach of Flutterwave (2023)
Flutterwave suffered a huge cybersecurity incident in February 2023, where a whopping $4 million where transferred from Flutterwave accounts in Nigeria.
According to the company’s legal counsel, the money was moved to 28 accounts in 63 transactions. To investigate accounts holding the funds, a suit was filed and accepted in favour of Flutterwave to freeze accounts across 28 financial institutions in Nigeria.
Lo and behold, another security breach happened the following year (May 2024). This time, attackers illegally transferred $7 million, according to an insider. It was also alleged by another insider that the money involved could reach $13 million.
4. Ransomware attack on Telecom Namibia (2024)
Namibia’s state-owned telcom company, Telecom Namibia, suffered a ransomware attack in December 2024, where the threat actors leaked sensitive data on the dark web after the company refused to negotiate with them.
Hunters International was the group behind.
The leaked data was nearly 500,000 pieces of information, including personal and financial data belonging to ministries, senior government officials, and other company clients.
5. Morocco’s CNSS Data Breach (2025)
In April 2025, Morocco’s National Social Security Agency (CNSS) suffered a data breach that was described as “politically motivated”.
It was reported that the threat actor behind was an Algerian named “Jabaroot”. According to Resecurity, a cybersecurity company, the threat actor leaked a CSV file containing the personal information of about 1,996,026 employees from various enterprises operating in Morocco.
Another source also reported that over 53,000 PDF files were exposed, detailing records of nearly 500,000 companies and close to 2 million employees.
6. Cell C Data Breach (2024)
Cell C, a mobile telecommunication provider in South Africa, suffered a data breach in April 2025. The attack dates back to November 2024, when RansomHouse, the threat actor behind, claimed to have breached 2TB worth of data belonging to the company.
Fast forward to January 2025, the company publicly confirmed the data breach and urged customers to be vigilant. The data was held but was not leaked publicly until April 2025.
7. Netstar ransomware attack (2025)
Netstar, a South African vehicle tracking company, suffered a ransomware attack in June 2025. The incident was claimed by INC Ransom, who was alleged to have stolen over 500GB of sensitive company data, including administrative passwords, invoices, and internal files.
The company later confirmed in August 2025 that a subset of its on-premise servers was encrypted, but stated that no evidence suggested customer data was compromised.
In the end, samples of the stolen information were leaked after Netstar refused to engage with the demands of the threat group.
8. Data breach of Jigsaw Holdings (2017)
Jigsaw Holdings suffered a massive data exposure in 2017. This is regarded as one of South Africa’s biggest data exposures.
The breach involved a misconfigured public web server that made tens of millions of records easily accessible.
Researchers later found that about 66,360,837 records were exposed, including over 57 million living persons and an estimated 9.3 million deceased persons.
The data included South African ID numbers, names, addresses, income estimates, property ownership, and other personal details.
9. Attack on the Micro and Small Enterprise Authority of Kenya (2024)
The Micro and Small Enterprise Authority (MSEA) in Kenya suffered a data breach in December 2024. Hackers accessed and exfiltrated sensitive government and business data, including employee records, financial statements, business registration details, and internal correspondence.
The compromised data was listed for sale on dark-web forums for US$100,000.
Investigations revealed that the attackers gained access due to unpatched vulnerabilities in MSEA’s IT infrastructure and weak access controls.
10. A data breach of Kenya’s Micro and Small Enterprise Authority (2024)
The Micro and Small Enterprise Authority (MSEA) of Kenya was subject to a cyber attack in December 2024 that compromised sensitive government and business data.
Hackers gained access to a vast amount of confidential information, including employee records, government communications, financial statements, and business registration data, which was reportedly listed on dark web forums for sale.’
Not only were MSEA IT systems compromised, but a well-known bank serving over 20 financial institutions across Asia and Africa was also impacted. Together, the entire data was listed for $100,000.
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