The cybersecurity research highlights a significant surge in cyberattacks nationwide, primarily involving stolen personal data and trade secrets.
Egypt's citizens have experienced cyber threats during 2024 and over the past few years, the most recent being the large-scale online fraud scheme linked to the FBC platform, which reportedly managed to collect $6 billion from citizens.
In 2023, the personal data of two million patients Egyptian patients was leaked and sold online, a case the authorities handled.
In the same year, Fawry, Egypt's foremost e-payment company, conducted a comprehensive cybersecurity audit and infrastructure review following a hack affecting its platforms.
Based on open sources and dark web posts, Positive Technologies reports that it identified over a hundred listings on dark web forums in 2024, offering databases of stolen information from Egyptian citizens and organizations.
The compromised data mainly included personal information (23 percent) and trade secrets (27 percent), significantly affecting the fast-growing e-commerce sector in Egypt.
Positive Technologies’ investigation uncovered one post advertising 85 million Egyptian citizens' personal data and another listing 600,000 customer records from a major supplement store. The surge in breaches targeting online stores is linked to the sector's rapid expansion, which is attracting cybercriminals seeking valuable data.
"Despite Egypt's leadership in digital technology and its high rankings in cybersecurity, the country faces serious challenges due to its accelerating digital transformation,” stated Positive Technologies analyst Alexey Lukash. “This growth has made Egypt an appealing target for cybercriminals, as demonstrated by the variety of attack methods and the type of data available on the dark web.”
The research also revealed that over half of all cyberattacks in Egypt (56 percent) target computers and network equipment. In March 2024, a major Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack disrupted the country's largest mobile operators, Orange, Vodafone, Etisalat, and We, affecting millions of users.
Individuals were also heavily targeted, accounting for 39 percent of cyberattack victims, followed by mobile devices (six percent).
Social engineering and malware attacks were the primary methods used in these breaches, accounting for 36 percent of incidents. In addition, Positive Technologies observed a rising trend of double extortion attacks, in which hackers use malware to encrypt data and demand ransom in exchange for not releasing sensitive information.
To combat these growing threats, cybersecurity experts recommend strengthening digital literacy among employees and fostering a robust cybersecurity culture within organizations. They also advise adopting advanced solutions like web application firewalls (WAFs) and network traffic analysis systems to detect and mitigate cyber threats proactively.
As Egypt continues its digital evolution, experts urge enhancing its cyber resilience to safeguard its citizens and businesses from future attacks.
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