The state of data breaches in the African cyberspace: A trend analysis using social media and research literature

Abstract

Cybersecurity attacks are classified in the top 10 global risks by the World Economic Forum in 2023. The common cyber-incidents that affect businesses, governments, and individuals across the globe are data breaches. Recent reports indicate that these incidents are on the rise, with an estimation of over 12 billion personal records breached, impacting on individual's privacy and organization's reputation. Comprehensive insight on data breaches in Africa is not readily available as reporting of these incidents by victims is not mandatory in many African countries, and available trends tend to be limited and scattered. This paper aims to provide a contextual understanding of data breach trends in Africa using social media data (current) and research literature (past). The data from social media, including news websites, were collected over a 3-month period tracking data breaches in the African content, whilst the research literature focused on prominent data breaches in African countries between 2020 and 2023. The research results indicate the data breaches trend that is on the rise in Africa with Nigeria showing higher engagements on social media, whilst South Africa being the data breach haven with a large exposure of personal data online. The impact of data breaches on customers and businesses in Africa is determined as being negative and unabated. This paper recommends practical and evidence-based security controls to minimize data breaches.