Nigeria recorded an average of 4,906 cyberattacks per organisation every week in August 2026, representing a 45 per cent year-on-year increase and placing the country among the most targeted markets in Africa.
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The figure was contained in the latest Global Threat Intelligence report by Check Point Research, the threat intelligence arm of Check Point Software Technologies, which showed that cyber threats intensified globally during the month.
Nigeria’s average was more than twice the global figure of 2,422 weekly attacks per organisation and was second only to Angola among the four African countries covered in the report.
Angola recorded the highest figure, with an average of 5,416 weekly attacks per organisation, representing a 47 per cent year-on-year increase. Kenya recorded 3,658 attacks, up six per cent, while South Africa recorded 2,086 weekly attacks, a three per cent decline from the corresponding period last year.
Across Africa, organisations experienced an average of 3,335 attacks per organisation per week in August, up from 3,237 in July.
Globally, organisations recorded an average of 2,422 weekly cyberattacks in August, representing a four per cent month-on-month increase and a 22 per cent rise compared with August 2025.
According to Check Point, the Energy and Utilities sector was the most targeted industry in Africa during the month, followed by financial services and government institutions.
Lorna Hardie, Regional Director for Africa at Check Point Software, described the development as a serious warning because of the strategic importance of energy infrastructure to national economies.
“The Energy & Utilities sector is the heartbeat of any country’s economy, and ensuring its cyber security should be a matter of priority for all concerned,” Hardie said.
The report also showed a sharp increase in ransomware activity, with 1,042 attacks reported globally in August. The figure was nearly double the level recorded in August 2025 and eight per cent higher than in July.
Business Services accounted for 36 per cent of reported ransomware incidents, followed by Industrial Manufacturing at 13 per cent and Consumer Goods and Services at 12 per cent.
Check Point identified Qilin as the most active ransomware group in August, accounting for 15 per cent of published attacks, followed by The Gentlemen with 10 per cent. Orova entered the top three ransomware groups for the first time.
The latest figures follow an already elevated threat level in July, when Nigerian organisations recorded an average of 4,975 weekly cyberattacks.
The growing threat has also prompted repeated warnings from the Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team, ngCERT.
In May, ngCERT warned organisations operating across Nigeria’s critical sectors of a sustained and intensifying wave of Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks targeting digital infrastructure.
The agency said cybercriminals were increasingly deploying sophisticated techniques, including botnets, amplification methods and the exploitation of known vulnerabilities, to overwhelm systems and disrupt essential services.
It warned that both public and private sector platforms were at risk as attackers continued to refine their methods.
The threat to financial institutions has also become more pronounced. In a recent warning, ngCERT disclosed that cybercriminals carried out a coordinated ATM cash-out attack against UBA Senegal, resulting in fraudulent withdrawals exceeding $2 million through 3,421 ATM transactions.
According to the agency, attackers are increasingly penetrating banking networks through phishing campaigns, supply-chain vulnerabilities and insider access before deploying malware, including Ploutus variants and other jackpotting tools.
ngCERT warned that successful ATM cash-out attacks could expose financial institutions to substantial financial losses, operational disruption and wider security risks.
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