Organisations across Africa experienced an average of 3,701 cyberattacks per week in September 2026, placing the continent among the regions facing the highest volume of cyber threats globally, according to a new report by cybersecurity firm Check Point Research.
The report found that the average number of weekly cyberattacks per organisation worldwide increased to 2,803 in September, representing a 16 per cent rise from August and a 48 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2025.
Africa ranked second globally in average weekly cyberattacks per organisation, behind Latin America, which recorded 3,813 attacks. Asia-Pacific followed Africa with 3,593 attacks per organisation per week.
The findings highlight the growing cybersecurity challenges facing organisations as businesses, public institutions and other service providers increasingly depend on digital platforms to deliver services, manage information and conduct transactions.
The report also showed that the average number of weekly attacks per organisation increased from 2,055 in May to 2,803 in September, representing a 36 per cent rise over the five-month period.
Education was the most targeted industry globally in September, recording an average of 6,656 cyberattacks per organisation each week, a 59 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.
Attacks against educational institutions also rose by 24 per cent from August. Check Point Research linked the increase partly to the start of the academic year, when students, teachers, parents and other users reconnect to institutional networks.
Telecommunications ranked second, with an average of 3,483 weekly attacks per organisation, up 29 per cent year on year. Government followed with 3,443 attacks per organisation per week, representing a 37 per cent increase.
The figures place education, telecommunications and government among the industries facing substantial cyberattack activity during the period covered by the report.
Phishing attacks also increased in September, with one in every 91 emails classified as phishing, compared with one in every 112 emails in August.
According to the report, 1.1 per cent of emails were classified as phishing in September, up from 0.89 per cent in the previous month.
Links featured in 81 per cent of the identified phishing emails, while 11 per cent contained attachments. Other phishing messages relied on social engineering without either.
Phishing involves attempts to deceive recipients into revealing sensitive information, surrendering account credentials or interacting with malicious links and attachments.
The report further recorded 824 ransomware attacks in September, a 53 per cent increase from September 2025.
The ransomware statistics were compiled from public disclosure websites operated by double-extortion groups. Check Point Research noted that the sources have inherent biases, meaning the figures reflect reported victims rather than the full number of ransomware incidents.
North America accounted for 46 per cent of reported ransomware incidents, followed by Europe at 25 per cent and Asia-Pacific at 17 per cent.
The United States accounted for 41.9 per cent of reported victims, while Germany represented four per cent and Canada 3.6 per cent.
The growing use of generative artificial intelligence tools in workplaces was another area of concern highlighted in the report, which found that one in every 39 enterprise GenAI prompts posed a high risk of sensitive data leakage in September.
The risk affected 89 per cent of organisations that regularly used GenAI tools. A further 14 per cent of prompts contained potentially sensitive information.
Check Point Research reported that the average user generated 131 GenAI prompts during the month, while each organisation used an average of eight tools.
Network and IT infrastructure information was the most frequently observed sensitive-data category, appearing in prompts at 71 per cent of organisations. Financial data followed at 70 per cent, while legal and regulatory information was observed at 68 per cent.
Employee and human resources data appeared in prompts at 62 per cent of organisations, while personally identifiable information was identified at 60 per cent.
The percentages refer to the proportion of organisations in which each category of sensitive information was observed, rather than the percentage of prompts containing the data.
The findings indicate that the risks associated with workplace AI use include the potential exposure of internal network configurations, financial information, employee records and other confidential business data.
Business Services was the most targeted industry in the report’s ransomware data, accounting for 31.3 per cent of reported victims in September.
Consumer Goods and Services followed with 15.2 per cent, while Industrial Manufacturing accounted for 11 per cent.
Check Point Research also identified The Gentlemen as the leading ransomware group for the month, responsible for 13 per cent of published attacks. Qilin accounted for nine per cent, while Akira represented five per cent.
The report said 80 additional extortion groups also reported ransomware attacks during the month.
Check Point Research said the September findings showed increases in cyberattack volumes, phishing activity and ransomware incidents, alongside risks linked to the growing use of generative AI tools.
The report recommended a prevention-focused security approach incorporating threat intelligence, visibility across digital environments and security controls covering networks, cloud services, email systems and AI applications.
