Experts expose shocking extent of cybersecurity threats in South Sudan

JUBA – Individuals, agencies, and private firms must take a keen interest in protecting their social media accounts against a new wave of cybersecurity threats, experts have advised.

A new report by SafetyComm, 211 Check, and Defyhate on cybercrimes committed in South Sudan, based on a four-year survey since 2021, has highlighted the alarming number of compromised social media accounts in the country.

“SafetyComm has documented 854 incidents of compromised social media account users falling victim to these fraudulent cyber threats and scam activities in the South Sudan digital environment,” said Nelson Kwaje, team lead.

“From 2021 to 2024. Out of this, 460 accounts were recovered after the victims sought our support,” he said.

However, 327 accounts were unrecovered due to the victims’ total loss of their account credentials or unwillingness to cooperate with the response team.

Additionally, cybersecurity pundits cited that 67 cases were already being worked on but were still pending recovery.

According to experts, the most common cyber threats and scams are perpetrated by anonymous online actors.

These threats include phishing attacks, disguised as legitimate but malicious, and malware attacks where links or file attachments embedded with viruses and ransomware infect users’ devices and compromise their data upon clicking or downloading.

Of the social media platforms, 57.3% of the cyber threats and scam incidents were recorded from Facebook users, 22.8% from WhatsApp, 18.9% from Instagram, 0.9% from Telegram, and none from X, formerly Twitter.

“Today’s joint advisory on cyber threats and scams serves to alert the general public and social media users in South Sudan about ongoing inauthentic false alarms regarding Facebook page verification, community standards violations, and copyright infringement with threats to shut down users’ accounts,” Kwaje said.

He noted that some people had received messages in their inboxes or emails from impersonators of the Meta support team, informing victims about acceptance to start verification, violation of community standards with phishing links.

Kwaje explained that the hackers in the messages would urge victims to act within 24 hours or risk losing the opportunity to verify their Facebook page, profiles, and accounts.

“As such, it is the exact tactics used by the anonymous actors to exploit social media users and compromise their accounts,” he continued.

Cybersecurity pundits urged the public to pay attention and avoid clicking links attached to messages they receive, whether through email or direct messages in their social media accounts.

Once an account is hacked, it can lead to identity theft, where individuals’ personal information is stolen and used fraudulently, and the release of private information (nude videos or photos) in the public domain without users’ consent.

With a cybercrime and computer misuse bill at the parliament, Kwaje advised that law enforcement agencies must be empowered and bolstered to handle cyber fraud and exploitation in the digital environment in South Sudan.

In recent years, South Sudan has witnessed a significant increase in the use of social media platforms due to both internet and mobile telecommunication penetration in the country.

While these platforms offer numerous benefits in terms of communication and information sharing, they also pose significant cyber threats and scams to users.