Kenyan Smartphone users are among the most at risk of mobile malware in the world

The country was ranked tenth for countries across the globe with the highest share of users attacked by mobile malware.
Globally, Iran was ranked first, at 28.31% with the largest number of users attacked by various malware that includes the Trojan virus.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania is ranked 5th with 23.07%, followed by Nigeria with 22.29%.

Kenyan smartphone users are flirting with danger every time they switch on their devices.

Kenya is among the top 10 countries with the highest number of users attacked by mobile malware, according to the latest report by tech firm Kaspersky Security Network dubbed IT Threat Evolution Quarter Two 2019.

The country was ranked tent across the globe with the highest share of users attacked by mobile malware.

File image of Kenyans calling on their mobile phones. ece-auto-gen

In Q2 2019, Kaspersky detected 753,550 malicious installation packages, which is 151,624 fewer than in the previous quarter.

According to the tech firm, among all the threats detected in Q2 2019, the lion’s share went to potentially unsolicited RiskTool apps with 41.24%, which is 11% more than in the previous quarter.

The malicious objects most frequently encountered came from the RiskTool. AndroidOS.Agent family (33.07% of all detected threats in this class), RiskTool.AndroidOS.Sssend (15.68%), and RiskTool.AndroidOS.Wapron (14.41%).

Top 10 countries by share of users attacked by mobile malware. (courtesy) Pulse Live Kenya

Also read: Kenya is a sitting duck in Cybersecurity as the country boasts too few cybercrimes professionals despite having a big name in African ICT circles

Globally, Iran displaced Pakistan (24%), which now occupies fourth position to emerge the top. Iran ranked first, at 28.31% with the largest number of users attacked by various malware that includes Trojan, while Bangladesh came in second at 28.1% as users encountered malware with Adware being the most common threat.

Algeria was third at 24.77% where users most often ran into the AdWare malware. South Africa was ranked the top in top 10 countries by share of users attacked by mobile banking Trojans. In 97% of cases, users in that country encountered Trojan-Banker.

In Sub Saharan Africa, Tanzania is ranked 5th with 23.07%, followed by Nigeria with 22.29% and Kenya at tenth position with 15.38%.

Kenya is among top 10 countries with the highest number of users attacked by mobile malware. Thomson Reuters

Kaspersky’s findings echo the latest Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) for April-June that shows a spike in malware attacks. According to the CA, malware cases almost tripled in nine months to hit 21 million between April and June.

Kenya also has too few cybercrime professionals despite the country being one of the most advanced countries in information and communication technology (ICT) on the continent.

According to the Africa Cyber Security Report 2018, the country only has 1,700 certified cybercrime professionals, too few to secure the Kenyan population of close to 50 million against cyber-attacks on the rise.