Deimos’ Cybersecurity Predictions for Africa in 2025

At Deimos, we have a unique perspective on Africa’s rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape. With years of expertise in cloud-native infrastructure and cybersecurity, we’ve closely monitored the challenges and opportunities that have emerged over the past year for African businesses. As we look toward 2025, we predict that several key trends will dramatically impact how organisations approach cybersecurity. These trends are not merely incremental changes but a shift in the very foundation of cybersecurity strategy.

Below are our cybersecurity predictions for 2025, based on the lessons we’ve learned in 2024, and the steps IT leaders should take to navigate this new landscape.

1. Data Sovereignty Becomes a Central Pillar of Cybersecurity

In 2024, Africa saw a continued push toward stronger data sovereignty regulations. Governments across the continent started implementing and enforcing more stringent rules around data localisation, often to protect personal and business data from external threats. This regulatory shift created a complex compliance landscape for organisations operating across borders. What we saw were significant gaps in the ability of many companies to comply with the new laws, leading to disruptions and heightened vulnerabilities.

What’s Next in 2025:
As we look toward 2025, we believe that the pressure for data localisation will continue to rise. With increasing concerns around data privacy and security, African nations will likely introduce even more specific regulations governing data storage and processing. This trend will push more businesses to invest heavily in local infrastructure and cloud services. However, this increased focus on localising data will make critical infrastructure, like data centers and cloud platforms, even more attractive targets for cybercriminals seeking to exploit these regulatory touchpoints. The challenge will be not only to comply with these regulations but also to ensure that localised data is securely managed, stored, and accessed.

What to Watch:

• Trend: More African countries will implement stricter data sovereignty laws, potentially creating a fragmented regulatory environment.
• Actionable Insight: IT leaders must focus on building infrastructure that meets local data compliance standards while ensuring that security remains a priority. Partnering with cloud providers who understand the intricacies of Africa’s regulatory environment will be crucial. Furthermore, businesses will need to develop contingency plans for data breaches that align with local legislation to avoid costly penalties.

2. AI-Powered Attacks Will Lead to the Next Generation of Social Engineering

In 2024, AI-based cybersecurity attacks began to proliferate. Attackers leveraged machine learning (ML) algorithms to enhance their social engineering campaigns, creating hyper-realistic phishing attacks. These AI-enhanced schemes were able to adapt and personalise messages at an unprecedented scale, successfully bypassing traditional detection systems. What stood out in 2024 was how quickly attackers could scale their operations using AI tools, making them far more efficient and difficult to detect.

What’s Next in 2025:
As we predict for 2025, AI will become even more advanced and pervasive in the hands of cybercriminals. Rather than simply replicating human behavior, attackers will use AI to predict a target’s actions, optimise their attack strategies in real time, and even anticipate responses from security teams. This shift will redefine social engineering, with AI capable of mimicking not only emails or phone calls but entire conversations and digital footprints. The threat of AI-powered voice imitation, for example, is particularly alarming, as attackers may impersonate trusted colleagues or senior executives, causing significant reputational and financial damage to organisations.

What to Watch:

• Trend: AI-driven social engineering will evolve into a far more adaptive and targeted threat, making it harder for employees to differentiate legitimate communication from a sophisticated scam.
• Actionable Insight: IT leaders must adopt AI-driven cybersecurity tools that are capable of detecting not only known threats but also anomalies that are indicative of adaptive, real-time attacks. Additionally, employee training will need to evolve, moving beyond basic awareness to understanding the capabilities of AI in cyberattacks. Investing in solutions like multi-factor authentication (MFA) and identity verification tools will help mitigate these risks.

3. The Rise of Cybercrime-as-a-Service Will Empower More Threat Actors

Over the past year, we saw an explosion in the availability of cybercrime-as-a-service (CaaS). Cybercriminals, particularly those targeting African businesses, have been increasingly able to acquire sophisticated attack tools through online marketplaces. These tools, which range from ransomware and exploit kits to botnets, have allowed smaller, less technically skilled attackers to launch highly effective cyberattacks. CaaS has reduced the barrier to entry for cybercriminals, enabling even low-level offenders to carry out attacks on a large scale.

What’s Next in 2025:
We predict that by 2025, CaaS will not only expand in reach but also in sophistication. As these platforms become more accessible and versatile, even more businesses in Africa will be exposed to advanced persistent threats (APTs) and targeted ransomware attacks. We expect that as more African enterprises, including startups, enter the digital economy, they will become prime targets for CaaS groups who see them as lucrative opportunities for data theft, extortion, and disruption. As these platforms become more integrated into the cybercriminal ecosystem, the attacks they enable will be harder to prevent and defend against.

What to Watch:

• Trend: The increasing accessibility of cybercrime tools will lower the threshold for sophisticated, large-scale cyberattacks.
• Actionable Insight: IT leaders must develop a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy that includes both proactive threat intelligence and a rapid response framework. Monitoring for emerging threats and having an incident response plan in place is critical. Additionally, businesses should collaborate with trusted security vendors to stay ahead of emerging CaaS tools and techniques.

4. Climate and Cybersecurity Will Converge in New and Unexpected Ways

In 2024, Africa faced significant environmental disruptions—ranging from flooding to droughts—that had a direct impact on critical infrastructure, including power grids, communication networks, and transportation. What became evident was how cybercriminals exploited these disruptions. As physical infrastructure was strained, many organisations’ cybersecurity defenses were stretched thin, leaving them vulnerable to cyberattacks targeting these weak points.

What’s Next in 2025:
We foresee the convergence of climate-related risks and cybersecurity becoming a top concern in 2025. As natural disasters continue to disrupt physical infrastructure, cybercriminals will increasingly target organisations during these recovery periods. We predict that attackers will time their campaigns to coincide with natural disasters or during periods of heightened vulnerability, when businesses are more focused on physical recovery and less on security. As the climate crisis deepens, these types of attacks will become a regular part of the threat landscape.

What to Watch:

• Trend: Cyberattacks will increasingly coincide with climate-related disruptions, targeting infrastructure weaknesses exposed during recovery efforts.
• Actionable Insight: IT leaders must incorporate climate-related risks into their cybersecurity planning. Building disaster recovery plans that account for both natural disasters and cyberattacks will be essential. Businesses should invest in climate-resilient infrastructure that can withstand both physical and cyber threats, with a focus on redundancy, backup power, and data protection.

5. The Decentralised Economy Will Continue to Attract Targeted Cyberattacks

Decentralised finance (DeFi), blockchain technologies, and the rise of digital assets like NFTs were major disruptors in 2024. While these innovations held great promise for democratising finance and creating new business models, they also created a landscape rife with vulnerabilities. Hackers exploited weaknesses in smart contracts, decentralised exchanges, and wallet security to carry out high-profile thefts and fraud. In 2024, many businesses in Africa began to adopt blockchain, but the lack of maturity in securing these systems led to significant losses.

What’s Next in 2025:
As we move into 2025, the decentralised economy will continue to grow, and with that, the sophistication of the attacks targeting it will increase. The use of decentralised applications (dApps) will expand across sectors like finance, healthcare, and government, attracting a broader range of attackers. Weaknesses in smart contract development and inadequate security for wallets and private keys will remain prime targets. We predict that attackers will become more proficient at exploiting vulnerabilities in these systems, potentially causing severe financial and reputational damage to businesses in the decentralised space.

What to Watch:

• Trend: The growing complexity and adoption of decentralised systems will attract more sophisticated cyberattacks, particularly targeting blockchain vulnerabilities.
• Actionable Insight: Organisations investing in decentralised technologies must prioritise robust cybersecurity practices from the start. This includes regular audits of smart contracts, enhanced security protocols for private keys, and the use of multi-signature wallets for storing digital assets. Education on blockchain security best practices for employees and stakeholders will be a key factor in mitigating risks.

Deimos’ Call to Action for IT Leaders

As we look toward 2025, we see a rapidly changing cybersecurity environment that presents both new opportunities and growing risks for African businesses. IT leaders must be proactive in evolving their security strategies to address these shifting dynamics. The landscape will require businesses to think beyond traditional security measures and embrace innovations like AI, blockchain security, and climate resilience.

At Deimos, we are committed to helping businesses navigate these complex cybersecurity challenges. With our expertise in cloud-native infrastructure, data security, and threat intelligence, we can guide organisations through this transformative time. To learn how to build a more secure digital future for your business, click here.