In an exclusive interview with Techtrends Zambia, Shuko Chunga, Country Executive at Liquid C2, shared insights on the evolving cybersecurity landscape in Zambia. He emphasized the need for stronger digital defenses as cyber threats become more sophisticated, and highlighted the role of partnerships, awareness, and innovation in building a more secure digital future for businesses and individuals alike.
Techtrends: What are the biggest cyber security threats currently facing businesses in Zambia, and how can they mitigate these risks?
Chunga: In Zambia, cyber criminals are using malware attacks as the greatest cybersecurity threat. However, at a sector-specific level, there are differences in perceived threats, with phishing and ransomware being considered more significant than others.
Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) schemes have lowered the barriers for attackers, making it easier for them to access the necessary tools. Phishing remains the most common entry point for ransomware attacks, with other contributing factors including the exploitation of vulnerabilities. The impact of these attacks extends beyond financial losses, causing considerable damage to reputations and significant downtime from disrupted services.
In the recent past, ransomware attackers have shifted to a “big game hunting” approach, targeting businesses and governments with valuable data to demand higher ransom payments. The Maze ransomware gang introduced double extortion, stealing sensitive data in addition to launching ransomware attacks, threatening to release the data unless a ransom was paid. Ransomware attacks have become more sophisticated, with attackers employing advanced tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to avoid detection. The rise of Initial Access Brokers (IABs) has further complicated the threat landscape.
Phishing attacks have also become more targeted and advanced, with personalised emails being used to trick victims into disclosing sensitive information. Conversation hijacking is another method, inserting malicious emails into legitimate conversations to make them more difficult to spot. One of the most common variants is vishing, which uses voicemail notifications.
As Zambia continues its digital transformation, cybersecurity threats evolve alongside technological advancements. For businesses, it has become increasingly important to remain vigilant in the face of the constantly changing cybercrime landscape and the evolving tactics used by malicious actors to breach security measures.
Techtrends: How has the rise of remote working affected the cyber security landscape in Zambia, and what solutions does Liquid Intelligent Technologies offer to address these challenges?
Chunga: Remote work has brought about a range of new cybersecurity challenges, including a larger attack surface that makes securing endpoint devices more difficult for security teams; limited visibility into data handling, as remote users may not always adhere to best practices; increased compliance, difficulties concerning data privacy and protection laws; a higher risk of phishing and social engineering attacks that can lead to unauthorised access to sensitive data and systems; exploitation of vulnerabilities in cloud configurations and access control for cloud services; the use of unsecured personal devices and networks by remote workers, which increases the likelihood of successful cyber-attacks; risks from webcam hacking and Zoom bombing, which can disrupt online meetings and expose sensitive data; and finally, the need for secure communication protocols due to vulnerabilities in chat platforms.
To enhance security in remote work environments, Liquid recommends that customers implement advanced endpoint security and evolving remote access architectures. It’s essential to choose an endpoint protection solution that not only covers basic security needs, such as malware protection, but also includes advanced features like data leakage prevention (DLP) and cloud access security brokers (CASB). Additionally, considering Secure Service Edge (SSE) is crucial to ensuring secure access to both cloud and private services.
From a cloud services perspective, it’s vital for customers to activate the native security features provided by cloud service providers, which should include, but are not limited to, multi-factor authentication, configuration and security posture monitoring, and management tools.
Techtrends: What role does Liquid Intelligent Technologies Zambia play in supporting national cyber security strategies, and how do you collaborate with government and private sector entities?
Chunga: The Complex Solutions unit dovetails intuitively with many of the solutions and services Liquid has in place.
Our engagements with government and the private sector start with getting an understanding of the requirement, concerns and/or the problem to resolve. We follow a consultative approach and a methodology that is consistent and has been proven over the years. It starts with a Reconnaissance Phase, where we ensure that we understand the business, ICT, the critical information assets, as well as the cyber security landscape and interrelation of the requirements, processes, and services. The information gathered is then analysed against best practice and the applicable cyber security threat/risk profile of the customer, and part of what we referred to as the Analysis Phase of our methodology. The result is a list of gaps against best practice or threats/risks that need to be addressed or mitigated. The final stage of our methodology is the Recommendation Phase, where we provide the guidance required in the form or a strategy, roadmap or solutions and services needed to address the customer requirements. This approach is built on our Secure360 Framework which is comprehensive and holistic and delivered across the following domains:
- Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) advisory services;
- Cyber Risk Assurance services, e.g. Pen Testing, Red Teaming, etc
- Cyber Security Solutions, Deployment and/or Support services
- Cyber Defence services, where we do managed security services, as well as 24x7x365 SOC monitoring, incident response and threat intelligence services.
Techtrends: Can you explain the importance of cybersecurity awareness for individuals and small businesses, and what are some best practices they should follow?
Chunga: Security awareness is crucial for individuals and small businesses because it enables them to protect themselves against various cyber threats, including but not limited to protection of personal data, prevention of fraudulent activities and associated financial loss, safeguarding their online reputation, prevent downtime or loss of productivity, contribute to compliance, peace of mind that they vigilant as is required.
Some best practices to follow are: stay informed, use strong passwords or preferably multi-factor authentication, keep you software up to date, be cautious of emails and links asking for personal information, also be cautious for emails and links enquiring about financial credentials or changes thereof, be careful for impersonation attacks, never approve financial requests/instructions via an email or similar if you have not confirm in person that it originates from the actual person; do security awareness training campaigns and simulation attacks to educate staff and individuals.
We remain a proactive service provider and continue to drive consumer education and security awareness around cyber security through our dedicated relationship management team, tailor made webinars, social media amplification and through mainstream media to reinforce the importance of cyber security among individuals and businesses of all sizes.
Techtrends: How does Liquid Intelligent Technologies Zambia approach data privacy and protection, especially considering Zambia’s increasing digital transformation?
Chunga: An important part of our Secure360 Framework is our consulting or advisory services. Our Governance, Risk and Compliance services assist our customers to comply with legislative and regulatory requirements, or to address data protection requirements that are associated with the protection of personal identifiable information, intellectual property information, and all other sensitive information, e.g. health, military, financial and more. The starting point for these services is an assessment against the relevant requirement, e.g. GDPR for data privacy.
Liquid Cyber security further offers solutions that are designed to ensure individuals and businesses working securely on any device and from anywhere. Among the solutions specifically aimed at data privacy and data protection are information discovery, information labelling, disk encryption, data encryption, data leakage prevention (DLP), digital rights management (DRM), identity and access management (IAM); and identity and access governance (IAG).
Techtrends: What are the key trends in cyber security technology that you foresee impacting Zambia in the next five years, and how is Liquid Intelligent Technologies preparing for them?
Chunga: The landscape of digital threats has undergone a profound transformation over the past few decades, driven by technological advancements and the digital interconnectedness of our world. As our society increasingly relies on digital technology for communication, commerce, and critical infrastructure, the threat landscape has evolved in complexity and sophistication.
What we see as the next big shift in the cyber security landscape in Zambia will mainly be driven by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in cyber security strategies. AI-powered threat detection, anomaly detection, and automated response systems will become more sophisticated in identifying and mitigating cyber threats in the years to come.
Other emerging cyber security technologies are behavioural biometrics, zero trust architectures enhancing strict verification for access, blockchain to provide secure storage for sensitive information and quantum encryption for faster and more secure processing.
At Liquid Intelligent Technologies, we continuously innovate to ensure that these technologies are considered and incorporated as part of our solutions and services to customers.
