As the digital economy expands, criminal activity is following the same trajectory — but at a faster pace. An Interpol report lifts the lid on the cybercrime market and reveals the gravity of the situation.
The digital Africa that emerges from 2025 data is simultaneously a promise of development and a vast space exposed to the risks of organised crime. The continent closed the year with more than 1.1 billion mobile subscriptions, approximately 570 million internet users, and over US$1.1 trillion in digital transactions. Yet the speed of this transformation has not been matched, in equal measure, by infrastructure security, institutional capacity, legislation, or the preparedness of those responsible for investigation.
The latest report by the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) on internet threats — the African Cyberthreat Assessment Report — describes 2025 as a year of accelerating risks. The document draws on information from 36 countries, including Mozambique, as well as data from private cybersecurity firms, law enforcement authorities, and other sources. It identifies a transformation that deserves far more attention than a simple tally of attacks, and reveals that cybercrime is establishing itself as a transnational criminal market. Artificial intelligence (AI) has become its primary accelerant.
The Commoditisation of Digital Crime
The most alarming picture to emerge from 2025 is the combination of scale, automation, and personalisation. The numbers help illustrate the magnitude of the shift: cybercrime-related losses more than doubled between 2024 and 2025, rising from US$192 million to US$484 million, while the number of identified victims climbed from 35,000 to 87,000.
Aggregate estimates point to a far larger economic toll: at least US$5 billion in direct damages across Africa during the past year.
Cybercrime-related losses more than doubled between 2024 and 2025, while the number of identified victims rose from 35,000 to 87,000.
More significantly, attacks no longer necessarily follow the traditional logic of a hacker identifying a vulnerability and exploiting a system. Criminals now purchase tools, credentials, infrastructure, and even specialised services on the dark web. The concept of cybercrime-as-a-service (CaaS) allows individuals with limited technical knowledge to execute high-impact operations.
AI has compounded the risk by automating target research, the production of phishing messages, the creation of fake identities, social engineering, and certain evasion processes. In 2025, 55% of cybercrime cases analysed across the countries studied involved AI.
From Ransomware to Attacks on the Economy
Ransomware is one of the clearest illustrations of this evolution. For years, such attacks were primarily associated with file encryption and ransom demands. In 2025, however, the threat took on a more systemic dimension. Hospitals, public services, energy companies, telecoms operators, transport networks, and other critical infrastructure became targets, as the impact of disruption increases criminals’ leverage.
Southern Africa recorded the greatest exposure. South Africa accounted for 92% of ransomware detections on the continent, according to TrendAI data. An attack against the South African Weather Service affected data systems and caused disruptions with implications for air and maritime navigation.
In Nigeria, an attack on the customs service paralysed clearance operations and is estimated to have generated approximately US$18 million in storage costs. In Uganda, a suspected ransomware incident struck the monitoring systems of the national electricity grid.
More Technology, More Exposure
The Interpol report identified more than 6,000 vulnerabilities, predominantly in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria — precisely the countries with the largest number of internet users. Many of these vulnerabilities were not new.
They involved outdated devices, insecure networks, and poorly configured document management platforms — known, documented, and easily exploitable weaknesses. Their persistence is linked to deficiencies in digital hygiene, update management, resource allocation, and system maintenance.
This shifts the nature of the debate. Beyond a technology deficit, Africa also faces a technology governance deficit. It is possible to invest in sophisticated digital platforms, yet they offer little protection if an administrative gateway remains open to intrusion. That is precisely what happened in the case of a Namibian telecoms operator, whose breach exposed approximately 500,000 personal and financial records. The problem did not stem from an exceptionally advanced attack, but from an unprotected administrative portal.
Laws Have Advanced, But Enforcement Lags
In 2025, 17 African countries — Mozambique is not among this sub-group — enacted or amended cybercrime-related legislation. Burkina Faso launched a reporting platform and adopted a national strategy, as did Angola. Côte d’Ivoire approved a new digital security framework. Zambia began applying a new law. Mauritius advanced a digital transformation plan. However, enacted laws remain poorly enforced, definitions vary across jurisdictions, and the admissibility of electronic evidence is not uniform. Mutual legal assistance requests can take considerable time. Data retention rules diverge. And emerging crimes facilitated by digital platforms do not always receive equivalent legal treatment.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/?p=552992
