The CTO and Commercial Solutions Area Director, Microsoft South Africa, Colin Baumgart , has revealed that cyber attacks targeting customers have doubled in the last one year, reaching 600 million daily.
Baumgart, who spoke yesterday in a virtual interactive platform with the press on a broad theme entitled, “Prioritising Security above all else – expanding Microsoft’s Secure Future Initiative”, stated that the cybersecurity landscape was undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the relentless evolution of technology and the increasing sophistication of cyber threats.
He said his organisation’s ‘2024 Digital Defense Report’ highlighted an alarming rise in attacks, with incidents targeting customers globally, doubling to 600 million per day, revealing the growing collaboration between nation-state actors and cybercriminals.
According to him, they arrived at this figure as over 78 trillion security signals per day from the cloud, endpoints, software tools and partner ecosystem informed their insights. This he said has helped his organization to understand and protect against digital threats and criminal cyber-activity.
“Data breaches,” Baumgart said, “have also been rampant, with TechCrunch reporting over 1 billion stolen records in 2024 alone,” saying “these breaches have not only compromised personal information, but have also emboldened criminals who profit from cyberattacks.
“As the threats evolve, so must the strategies to combat them, requiring a concerted effort from individuals, organisations and governments alike”.
Quoting statistics from Interpol, he stated that African Cyber threat Assessment Report, 2024, indicated the rapid growth of cybercrime which was further illustrated by the estimation that in 2023, there was a 23per cent year-on-year increase in the average number of weekly cyber-attacks per organisation in Africa which average was the highest in the world.
According to him, there is a widespread recognition of the need to build a security culture to increase the understanding of security’s value to the business, as well as drive security awareness.
He advised that people, process and technology need to be in harmony as businesses can have the most sophisticated technology and comprehensive processes in place to monitor, detect and respond to breaches, but if a person gives their password away or clicks on a phishing email, it becomes exponentially more difficult to protect the organisation.
Baumgart stated that their ability to analyse vast amounts of data at lightning speeds, enables the identification of patterns and anomalies that may indicate a security breach, often before it occurs, saying this proactive stance is crucial in a time when reactive measures are no longer sufficient.
He however, noted that in an era where digital threats are escalating in complexity and scale, we cannot just think about defending against cyber threats, there is a need to be advancing the way we design, build, test and operate our technology to meet the highest standards of security. All these are the reasons behind our creating the Secure Future Initiative (SFI), a multi-year undertaking to safeguard our digital ecosystem, he stated.
He advised that organisations navigate this shifting terrain, adding that the synergy between AI and human intelligence will be the cornerstone of a resilient cybersecurity posture.
He said by embracing the transformative potential of AI, while remaining cognisant of its risks, we are setting a new standard for digital defence that is robust, intelligent, and ever-evolving, he added.
He said they have adopted an approach that is anchored in three fundamental principles of secure by design, secure by default, and secure operations, ensuring that security is not an afterthought, but a foundational element of everything we create.
“This commitment to cybersecurity extends beyond our own products. Through collaborations and partnerships, we are contributing to a broader security ecosystem, sharing threat intelligence and best practices. This collaborative effort is vital because cyber threats do not recognise boundaries and can ripple through networks, affecting countless users”.
He lamented that recent cyber threats have shown a marked increase in both sophistication and frequency, posing significant challenges to cybersecurity defences worldwide. A notable trend according to him, is the surge in mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), and operational technology (OT) cyberattacks, which underscores the expanding threat landscape beyond traditional computing environments.
Earlier, Microsoft Chairman and CEO, Satya Nadella, recalled the launch of the Secure Future Initiative (SFI) by his Organisation to prepare for the increasing scale and high stakes of cyberattacks.
He said for Microsoft, the idea is to bring together every part of Microsoft to advance cybersecurity protection across the company’s products and services.
He lamented that last year, the cyber threat landscape continued to become more dangerous and complex as malign actors of the world, are becoming better resourced and better prepared, with increasingly sophisticated tactics, techniques, and tools that challenge even the world’s best cybersecurity defenders.
The Microsoft boss said the company has been a victim of well-orchestrated attacks by determined and well-resourced adversaries and also reiterated that their customers face more than 600 million cybercriminal and nation-state attacks daily, ranging from ransomware to phishing, to identity attacks.
Also, Corporate Vice President, Security, Compliance, Identity, and Management, Microsoft Africa, Vasu Jakkal, said the increasing speed, scale, and sophistication of recent cyberattacks demand a new approach to security,as traditional tools are no longer enough to keep pace with the threats posed by cyber criminals.
According to him, the changing threat landscape and evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) means that we need to think about cybersecurity differently. Customers face over 600m cybercriminal attacks daily, says Microsoft chief
.Traditional tools not sufficient to check cybercrimes
By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie
The CTO and Commercial Solutions Area Director, Microsoft South Africa, Colin Baumgart , has revealed that cyber attacks targeting customers have doubled in the last one year, reaching 600 million daily.
Baumgart, who spoke yesterday in a virtual interactive platform with the press on a broad theme entitled, “Prioritising Security above all else – expanding Microsoft’s Secure Future Initiative”, stated that the cybersecurity landscape was undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the relentless evolution of technology and the increasing sophistication of cyber threats.
He said his organisation’s ‘2024 Digital Defense Report’ highlighted an alarming rise in attacks, with incidents targeting customers globally, doubling to 600 million per day, revealing the growing collaboration between nation-state actors and cybercriminals.
According to him, they arrived at this figure as over 78 trillion security signals per day from the cloud, endpoints, software tools and partner ecosystem informed their insights. This he said has helped his organization to understand and protect against digital threats and criminal cyber-activity.
“Data breaches,” Baumgart said, “have also been rampant, with TechCrunch reporting over 1 billion stolen records in 2024 alone,” saying “these breaches have not only compromised personal information, but have also emboldened criminals who profit from cyberattacks.
“As the threats evolve, so must the strategies to combat them, requiring a concerted effort from individuals, organisations and governments alike”.
Quoting statistics from Interpol, he stated that African Cyber threat Assessment Report, 2024, indicated the rapid growth of cybercrime which was further illustrated by the estimation that in 2023, there was a 23per cent year-on-year increase in the average number of weekly cyber-attacks per organisation in Africa which average was the highest in the world.
According to him, there is a widespread recognition of the need to build a security culture to increase the understanding of security’s value to the business, as well as drive security awareness.
He advised that people, process and technology need to be in harmony as businesses can have the most sophisticated technology and comprehensive processes in place to monitor, detect and respond to breaches, but if a person gives their password away or clicks on a phishing email, it becomes exponentially more difficult to protect the organisation.
Baumgart stated that their ability to analyse vast amounts of data at lightning speeds, enables the identification of patterns and anomalies that may indicate a security breach, often before it occurs, saying this proactive stance is crucial in a time when reactive measures are no longer sufficient.
He however, noted that in an era where digital threats are escalating in complexity and scale, we cannot just think about defending against cyber threats, there is a need to be advancing the way we design, build, test and operate our technology to meet the highest standards of security. All these are the reasons behind our creating the Secure Future Initiative (SFI), a multi-year undertaking to safeguard our digital ecosystem, he stated.
He advised that organisations navigate this shifting terrain, adding that the synergy between AI and human intelligence will be the cornerstone of a resilient cybersecurity posture.
He said by embracing the transformative potential of AI, while remaining cognisant of its risks, we are setting a new standard for digital defence that is robust, intelligent, and ever-evolving, he added.
He said they have adopted an approach that is anchored in three fundamental principles of secure by design, secure by default, and secure operations, ensuring that security is not an afterthought, but a foundational element of everything we create.
“This commitment to cybersecurity extends beyond our own products. Through collaborations and partnerships, we are contributing to a broader security ecosystem, sharing threat intelligence and best practices. This collaborative effort is vital because cyber threats do not recognise boundaries and can ripple through networks, affecting countless users”.
He lamented that recent cyber threats have shown a marked increase in both sophistication and frequency, posing significant challenges to cybersecurity defences worldwide. A notable trend according to him, is the surge in mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), and operational technology (OT) cyberattacks, which underscores the expanding threat landscape beyond traditional computing environments.
Earlier, Microsoft Chairman and CEO, Satya Nadella, recalled the launch of the Secure Future Initiative (SFI) by his Organisation to prepare for the increasing scale and high stakes of cyberattacks.
He said for Microsoft, the idea is to bring together every part of Microsoft to advance cybersecurity protection across the company’s products and services.
He lamented that last year, the cyber threat landscape continued to become more dangerous and complex as malign actors of the world, are becoming better resourced and better prepared, with increasingly sophisticated tactics, techniques, and tools that challenge even the world’s best cybersecurity defenders.
The Microsoft boss said the company has been a victim of well-orchestrated attacks by determined and well-resourced adversaries and also reiterated that their customers face more than 600 million cybercriminal and nation-state attacks daily, ranging from ransomware to phishing, to identity attacks.
Also, Corporate Vice President, Security, Compliance, Identity, and Management, Microsoft Africa, Vasu Jakkal, said the increasing speed, scale, and sophistication of recent cyberattacks demand a new approach to security,as traditional tools are no longer enough to keep pace with the threats posed by cyber criminals.
According to him, the changing threat landscape and evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) means that we need to think about cybersecurity differently.
