Kenyan organisations faced an average of 3,658 cyber attacks per organisation per week in August 2026, a 6% increase year-on-year, even as ransomware activity nearly doubled globally, according to Check Point Research.
The recently released Global Threat Intelligence report shows that organisations worldwide experienced an average of 2,422 cyber attacks per week during the month, a 4% increase month-on-month and a 22% increase year-on-year.
Weekly attacks on organisations in African countries exceeded the global average. Of the four countries included in the report, Angola was the most targeted with 5,416 attacks per organisation per week, up 47% year-on-year, followed by Nigeria with 4,906 attacks, up 45% year-on-year.
Kenya was third with 3,658 attacks per organisation per week, up 6% year-on-year, while South Africa was slightly lower than the global average at 2,086 attacks per week, down 3% year-on-year.
At continental level, African organisations experienced an average of 3,335 attacks per organisation per week in August, up from 3,237 in July.
The findings point to a broad escalation in cyber risk. Check Point said attack volumes continued their upward trend while ransomware, phishing and GenAI-related data exposure remained the key enterprise security challenges.
Globally, ransomware has been the sharpest riser. In its July 2026 report, Check Point reported that ransomware attacks had doubled year-over-year, breaking from a more stable pattern earlier in the year. The surge has been driven by Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) models combining encryption, data exfiltration, disclosure threats and DDoS-enabled extortion, alongside increased use of AI-assisted social engineering.
In Africa, the most targeted sectors in August were Energy and Utilities, followed by Financial Services and Government institutions.
"This should be a red flag to all concerned. The Energy & Utilities sector is the heartbeat of any country's economy, and ensuring its cyber security should be a matter of priority for all concerned," said Lorna Hardie, Regional Director for Africa at Check Point Software Technologies.
Check Point also flagged a new enterprise risk around Generative AI. In August, high-risk GenAI prompts fell to their lowest level in several months, with one in every 43 prompts from enterprise networks posing a data exposure risk. However, overall usage continued to increase. The average user generated 106 prompts during the month, up from 95 in July and 78 in June.
That means more opportunities for sensitive information to be entered into AI tools without adequate controls. Around 86% of organisations using GenAI regularly were affected by high-risk prompt activity, while organisations used an average of seven different AI tools.
Globally, Latin America was the most attacked region with 3,577 weekly attacks per organisation, up 25% year-on-year, while Europe recorded the fastest growth at 28% year-on-year. Africa recorded 3,335 weekly attacks and Asia Pacific 3,325.
Check Point said organisations need a prevention-first, AI-driven security strategy that gives consistent visibility and control across users, email, networks, cloud environments and AI tools before attacks cause impact.
"With attacks climbing, ransomware accelerating, phishing remaining a common entry point and GenAI creating a new route for data exposure, security teams cannot rely on fragmented defences. They need a prevention-first protection approach that combines visibility, control and automation across network, cloud, endpoint, email and AI usage to stop threats before they disrupt operations or expose sensitive information," Hardie said.
Globally, education remained the most targeted sector, recording 5,354 weekly attacks per organisation, up 28 per cent year on year, followed by government at 3,067 and hospitality, travel and recreation at 3,056, up 56 per cent amid a summer surge.
