Many Nigerian companies at serious risk of cyber-attack

A report by Dell Technologies has revealed that about 50 per cent of African companies are at risk of serious cyber-attack because they are not prepared to handle a large-scale cyber-attack.

Dell Technology shared the report at a forum in Lagos, where it collaborated with CWG and Mitsumi to share insights on ways companies can mitigate the growing spate of cyberattacks, most of which go unreported.

According to the report, the unpreparedness has led to a 600% increase in cyberattacks in Africa over the last 2 years.

It added that 61% of companies in the region were affected by ransomware in 2020 alone. This contributes to about $4 billion lost to attacks every year. Providing further insights from the report, the company said 88% of all data breaches are caused by an employee mistake.

Regional Sales Manager for Dell, Ashraf Helmy, said the attacks have increased because of the value of data.

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“Data is the number 1 asset in the world today. The ubiquity of data is also what also increases the vulnerability of companies. The implication is that companies now face multiple penetration points. A report by Verizon showed that 90% of data breaches are financially motivated.

“The question is not if you will be attacked, because you will be attacked. The question is, “When you are attacked, what recovery tool would you use?” Helmy said.

Many reports have also shown that a lot of companies that have been attacked eventually paid a ransom in the hopes of recovering the data, and most of the time they never recover the data. Dell said it has developed tools that can help companies recover their data. This includes a data vault which Helmy said is a must-have for every company.

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Presenting a keynote at the forum themed: ‘Tech-Driven Future-Building Tomorrow’s Innovation’, Senior Systems Engineer at Dell Technologies, Adekunle Windapo, advised organizations to invest in technology to remain relevant and competitive.

He also stressed the need for collaboration and explained that without collaboration, no organization could successfully innovate. He advised organizations to simplify their Information Technology (IT) processes to enhance productivity.

According to him, Dell Technologies, which recently invested $7.9 billion in research and development, will help organizations to turn their ideas into innovation for profitability through its solutions.

Also speaking at the forum, the Chief Operating Officer at CWG, Afolabi Sobande, said the partnership between CWG, Dell Technologies, and Mitsumi brought together the best of expertise and resources to create an exceptional platform for thought leadership, knowledge sharing, and collaboration.

He disclosed that Dell is the technology partner and owner of Mitsumi, an IT distribution company with a presence in Nigeria while CWG deploys the technology to the market.