Unitel, Angola’s largest telecommunications operator, has identified and prevented 30,418 cyber attacks in 2021, an average of 2,535 attempted attacks per month, and is developing 15 actions to prevent attacks, the company’s management announced today.
According to administrator Amílcar Safeca, cyber attacks “continue to occur,” but in the specific case of Unitel “did not occur, because they were identified and blocked” by the company’s “systems.”
“But, these numbers, in essence, attest to the appetite and exposure of organizations in Angola to cyber attacks, that is, anyone who thinks they are not being the object of attack is probably making an error of assessment,” he said.
Amílcar Safeca, who was speaking at a conference on “Integrity, Ethics and Cybersecurity: Challenges and Opportunities”, reported that his administration has defined an information security program, with 15 initiatives, to enhance its security maturity and prevent attacks.
The information security governance model, vendor management program, and identity and access management program are among the company’s 15 initiatives framed within the information security program.
“These 15 initiatives cover the International Information Security Management Standard,” assured Amilcar Safeca, in a panel on cybersecurity as part of the conference sponsored by Ernest Young (EY).
A report on cybersecurity in Angola for 2020 was presented at the meeting by the managing partner and head of cybersecurity services at EY Angola, Sérgio Martins.
According to the study, Angolan organizations are investing in traditional initiatives to the detriment of new ones.
The investment priorities of many of the cybersecurity teams in Angola, the report highlights, show that there is still a lot of work ahead to implement security at the conceptualization stage.
Currently “62% of organizations in Angola invest in cybersecurity with the goal of reducing risk, up 14% compared to the global results.”
The launch of new disruptive business initiatives such as digital transformation, automation, Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud “are the main reason for investment for only 36% of organizations in Angola in contrast to the 57% obtained in the global results.”
“If we look at the emerging technology ‘migration to the cloud’ we find that only eight out of 100 organizations in Angola have invested in order to reduce the risks associated with it, half the number of organizations if we consider the global results,” the document states.
Lusa
