Kenya recorded more than 11.1 billion cyber threat events during the 2025/2026 financial year, with distributed denial-of-service attacks increasing by 114.3%, according to figures released by the Communications Authority of Kenya.
Kenya’s rapidly expanding digital economy is facing growing cybersecurity challenges as the number of detected threats continues to rise. New figures from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) show that cyber threat incidents increased significantly during the financial year ending June 2026, highlighting the growing pressure on businesses, government institutions and online service providers.
The regulator recorded 11,124,632,684 cyber threat events during the period, compared with approximately 8.62 billion in the previous financial year. The increase comes as more Kenyans rely on digital platforms for financial transactions, communication, public services and everyday business activities.
Among the most significant developments was the sharp rise in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, which more than doubled over the year.
DDoS Attacks More Than Double
According to the Communications Authority, Kenya recorded 72.16 million DDoS attack events during the 2025/2026 financial year, up from 33.68 million in 2024/2025.
DDoS attacks attempt to overwhelm websites, servers or networks with excessive traffic, potentially preventing legitimate users from accessing online services. Attackers often use networks of compromised devices, known as botnets, to generate large volumes of requests against targeted systems.
These attacks can disrupt business operations, affect customer access to digital platforms and interrupt essential online services without necessarily requiring attackers to gain direct access to a target’s internal systems.
The annual increase highlights the importance of protecting internet-facing infrastructure, particularly for organisations that depend on uninterrupted online operations.
However, the figures represent detected threat events rather than a count of confirmed successful breaches or unique victims.
Malware and Web Application Attacks Also Increase
DDoS activity was not the only category to record substantial growth.
Malware-related threats increased by 64.8% to approximately 230.31 million events, compared with 139.76 million in the previous financial year.
Web application attacks also rose sharply, increasing by 99% to approximately 51.51 million events. These attacks can target vulnerabilities in websites, online services and application programming interfaces, potentially exposing sensitive information or disrupting business operations.
Brute-force attacks, which involve repeated attempts to guess passwords or other authentication credentials, reached approximately 132.23 million events, representing an annual increase of 3.6%.
Mobile application attacks also increased, rising by approximately 54% to 789,826 events.
The figures demonstrate that Kenya’s cybersecurity challenges extend across several areas, including malicious software, application security and attempts to gain unauthorised access to digital systems.
System Vulnerabilities Remain the Biggest Concern
System vulnerabilities accounted for the largest share of detected cyber threats during the reporting period.
The Communications Authority recorded approximately 10.64 billion events in this category, representing a 28.2% increase from the previous financial year.
Vulnerabilities can arise from outdated software, unpatched security flaws, insecure configurations and weaknesses in system design. When these issues remain unresolved, attackers may exploit them to access systems, compromise data or disrupt services.
The scale of the reported figure highlights the importance of regular security updates, vulnerability assessments and appropriate network protections.
Organisations also need to maintain an accurate inventory of their digital assets to ensure that servers, applications and connected devices receive the necessary security attention.
Kenya’s Digital Expansion Creates New Security Challenges
The increase in detected cyber threats comes as internet connectivity and digital services continue to expand across Kenya.
More businesses are moving operations online, while consumers increasingly depend on digital banking, mobile payments, e-commerce and online government services.
This expansion creates economic opportunities but also increases the number of systems that require protection.
Financial institutions, telecommunications providers, public agencies and smaller businesses must ensure that their security measures evolve alongside their digital infrastructure.
A disruption to a widely used platform can affect large numbers of customers, while weaknesses in one connected system may create opportunities for attackers to target other parts of a network.
The challenge is therefore not simply to prevent individual attacks but to maintain reliable security across increasingly interconnected environments.
Cybersecurity Advisories Increase by More Than 60%
The Communications Authority also reported a substantial increase in cybersecurity advisories issued during the financial year.
The National Kenya Computer Incident Response Team–Coordination Centre (National KE-CIRT/CC) issued approximately 83.10 million advisories, up 60.8% from around 51.66 million in 2024/2025.
These advisories form part of the country’s broader cybersecurity response, providing information intended to help organisations and users identify and address potential threats.
The increase underscores the importance of timely threat information, incident reporting and coordination between cybersecurity professionals, businesses and public institutions.
Nevertheless, the effectiveness of these measures also depends on whether organisations act on relevant warnings, apply recommended security controls and respond quickly when suspicious activity is detected.
How Organisations Can Strengthen Their Defences
As cyber threats become more frequent, organisations can reduce their exposure by adopting several fundamental security practices.
These include keeping operating systems and applications updated, securing internet-facing services, using strong authentication and regularly reviewing access permissions.
Businesses that depend on online services should also consider DDoS mitigation measures, network monitoring, tested backup systems and incident response plans.
For application developers, secure coding practices and regular vulnerability assessments can help identify weaknesses before attackers exploit them.
Employee awareness is equally important. Phishing, stolen credentials and social engineering can provide attackers with access that bypasses some traditional security controls.
Combining preventive measures with continuous monitoring and an established response process can help organisations detect suspicious activity earlier and limit the potential impact of an incident.
Conclusion
Kenya’s 2025/2026 cybersecurity figures illustrate the growing scale of threats facing a country that increasingly depends on digital infrastructure. The detection of more than 11.1 billion cyber threat events, alongside a 114.3% increase in DDoS attacks, highlights the importance of protecting online services against disruption and exploitation.
The figures do not mean that billions of successful cyberattacks occurred, but they demonstrate the volume of suspicious or malicious activity detected by the national cybersecurity monitoring system.
As Kenya’s digital economy continues to grow, stronger infrastructure security, faster threat detection and coordinated incident response will remain essential to protecting businesses, public services and consumers.
