Cybersecurity becomes greater concern this year in West Africa

2015 saw "cybersecurity" become a worldwide buzzword, and the need for greater Internet security and protection in the finance, industrial, automotive and aircraft sectors --  and in wearable devices, health care and dating services -- grew in nations around the globe, including West Africa.
 
These conclusions were part of the results from a year-end study conducted by researchers at global Internet security company Kaspersky Lab.

“The continued increase in threats and cybersecurity matters certainly shows that African countries are a growing target for cybercrime, and as a result, countries like Nigeria need to pay attention to this reality and the future trends and predictions in this space,” Dirk Kollberg, senior security researcher for the global research and analysis team at Kaspersky Labs, said.

The past year also saw cyberattacks become more elaborate, Kollberg said, making them harder to detect and the culprits harder to locate.

Many nations banded together in partnerships to fight cybercrime, including Russia, China, the U.S. and the U.K., where mutual-cooperation agreements on the issue were drafted and signed.

Cyberattacks are also spilling over into the world of terrorism.

"Today, attacking and defending internal and external networks, such as the Internet, are subjects of considerable interest to various illegal groups,” Kollberg said.