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African organizations have seen fewer cyberattacks so far in 2026, compared to the previous year, as cybercriminal and espionage activity shifts to other regions, such as Latin America, according to experts. African organizations encountered an average of about 2,700 attacks per week in the first quarter of 2026, down 22% from the nearly 3,500 threats…
Analysis Summary
# Industry News: African Cyberattack Rates Decline as Threat Landscape Shifts to Latin America
## Summary
In a notable shift in the global threat landscape, African organizations recorded a 22% decrease in weekly cyberattacks during Q1 2026 compared to the previous year. While the region remains highly targeted, data suggests cybercriminals are pivoting their focus toward Latin America as African defenses mature.
## Key Details
- **Date:** April 24, 2026
- **Companies Involved:** Check Point Software Technologies (Primary source), Dark Reading
- **Category:** Market Analysis and Prediction
## The Story
According to Check Point Software Technology’s “March 2026 Cyber Threat Landscape” report, African organizations encountered an average of 2,700 attacks per week in the first quarter of 2026. This represents a significant decline from the nearly 3,500 weekly threats observed in 2025.
Industry analysts attribute this trend to two primary factors: the increasing cybersecurity maturity and "preparedness" of African enterprises, and a strategic pivot by global threat actors toward Latin America. Despite this decline, Africa remains a high-risk zone, as its current average of 2,700 weekly attacks still significantly exceeds the global average of 2,000.
## Business Impact
### For the Companies Involved
- **Check Point Software:** Positions itself as the premier authority on emerging regional trends, potentially driving demand for its services in Latin America (the new growth area for threats) while maintaining a strong consultative presence in Africa.
### For Competitors
- **Security Vendors:** Competitors may need to reallocate sales and marketing resources to Latin America (LATAM) to address the surge in demand there, while pivoting their messaging in Africa from "emergency response" to "long-term resilience."
### For Customers
- **African Businesses:** A temporary "respite" provides a window to invest in strategic upgrades rather than reactive firefighting.
- **Latin American Businesses:** Likely to face increased cyber insurance premiums and a sudden need for rapid security infrastructure deployment.
### For the Market
- **Global Resource Allocation:** The shift highlights the "nomadic" nature of cybercrime; as one region hardens its defenses, criminal ecosystems seek lower-friction environments.
## Technical Implications
The data suggests that the hardening of African networks—likely through improved cloud security and automated threat detection—is successfully raising the "cost of attack" for adversaries. The technical focus is shifting from high-volume, low-sophistication attacks to more targeted espionage as the sheer volume of opportunistic attacks begins to drop.
## Strategic Analysis
- **Market Positioning:** Africa is transitioning from a "vulnerability-rich" environment to a region with stabilizing defense standards.
- **Competitive Advantage:** Managed Service Providers (MSPs) in Africa that successfully integrated AI-driven defense over the last two years are now seeing the fruits of those labor in these declining metrics.
- **Challenges:** The primary risk is complacency. A 22% drop is significant, but the region still faces 35% more attacks than the global average.
## Industry Reactions
- **Check Point Research:** Sergey Shykevich noted that African organizations are improving their preparation, giving them a brief reprieve as attackers look for easier targets elsewhere.
- **Market Response:** Analysts view this as a sign of "market cooling" in one region and "heating" in another, suggesting a shift in international cyber-intelligence budgets toward the Americas.
## Future Outlook
- **Predictions:** Expect a corresponding spike in ransomware and data breach reports coming out of Latin America throughout 2026.
- **What to watch for:** Whether the "below-threshold" strategy mentioned regarding China in Latin America suggests that the shift is not just criminal, but also geopolitical in nature.
## For Security Professionals
Practitioners in Africa should use this period of reduced attack volume to conduct deep-dive audits and technical debt reduction. For those in Latin America, the urgency for "visibility" projects and operational technology (OT) hardening—as highlighted by recent NIST initiatives—is now at a critical level. Awareness of the "LATAM pivot" should be factored into threat models for any multinational firm with operations in the Americas.