INFOGRAPHIC
INFOGRAPHIC
Kaspersky’s latest APT report
showcases most vulnerable
META countries
S
ince the start of 2018, Kaspersky researchers have
kept a close eye on the META region for Advanced
Persistent Threat (APT) attacks and worked on 29
investigative cases across Africa.
These statistics are drawn from Kaspersky’s APT
intelligence reporting service, which is populated
by Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis team.
The team issues detailed reports on each of the
investigations and alerts the security operations team in
governments and businesses on the threat actors that
concern them. These statistics provide an overview of
the countries and sectors that were most targeted by
Advanced Persistent Threats.
less targeted attacks when measured
up against Middle Eastern countries
and Turkey. Kaspersky examined
five cases from Kenya and Ethiopia
respectively and four each from South
Africa, Morocco, Tanzania and Libya.
Sudan had the least number of attacks
totalling to a mere three.
Dr Amin Hasbini, Head of the Global
Research and Analysis Team, for
Middle East, Turkey and Africa at
Kaspersky said: “It is clear from our
investigations, that APT attacks in the
META region are showing no signs of
slow down.
“Simultaneously, APT attacks are
becoming further difficult to detect
and the more we hunt, the more we
uncover. Kaspersky has been at the
forefront of discovering new outbreaks
The META region has always been a hotbed for such
targeted attacks due to geopolitical situation and the last
couple of years have been no different. It is not shocking to
note that the greater number of APT attacks investigated
by Kaspersky were primarily seen in national agencies.
Government institutions bore the brunt with 61 cases
reported over the course of the last two years.
Diplomatic institutions came in next on the list with
49 reports, with military and defence institutions and
financial and investment institutions with 31 and 33
reports being unveiled respectively.
Other targeted sectors on the list include
telecommunications, energy, IT companies,
political parties, educational institutions, INGOs,
media and healthcare. These sectors are attacked far
less than governmental institutions, but it is still a
cause for concern.
Kaspersky researchers issued 21 threat intelligence
reports related to Saudi Arabia, which is the greater
number of reports out of all the Middle Eastern countries.
The second highest target is the United Arab Emirates
with Kaspersky scrutinising 16 reports from the country.
Kaspersky issued 14, 13 and 12 reports from Kuwait,
Jordan and Lebanon respectively. The lowest number of
reports issued were from Egypt, Syria and Iraq totalling to
10 from each country.
These investigations are not confined to the Middle East
but also extend to Turkey and Africa. Kaspersky worked on
18 cases in Turkey so far. The African region saw relatively
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