Hi Everyone,

In this edition of the newsletter, we'll focus on a region that has recently been under my radar. Let's dive into last week's roundup of the latest cybersecurity news, reports, and tools.

Mini challenge

Before we begin, let’s do a mini challenge! The first person to send the correct answer will receive a small gift.

1. What is the Polish name of this animal?

2. Which of the Big Five animals is this one most closely related to genetically?

Cybersecurity News

• INTERPOL has recognized Nigeria's National Cybercrime Center as Africa’s best in tackling digital fraud. Find out more.

• East Africa confronts a rise in piracy and cybercrime, as regional cooperation seeks to combat these growing threats. Find out more.

• Cybercrime costs in Nigeria are projected to exceed $20 trillion by 2026. Find out more.

Vulnerabilities & Exploits & Hacks

• South Africa faces high network security incidents, particularly targeting large enterprises, despite strong defenses. Find out more.

Law Enforcement

• In West Africa, Interpol arrested 200 people and seized critical materials related to illegal mining. Find out more.

• The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPOL) announced the arrest of members of cybercrime groups operating across Africa, specializing in ransomware, digital extortion, online scams, and business email compromise (BEC) attacks. This effort, known as Operation Serengeti. The full list of the Operational partners: Cybercrime Atlas, Fortinet, Group-IB, Kaspersky, Team Cymru, Trend Micro, Uppsala Security

Geopolitical & Economic News

• Zambia receives a $108M loan from the African Development Bank to boost its economy, alongside $185.5M in IMF support. Find out more.

📰 Reports

• The Cybercrime Atlas, hosted by the World Economic Forum, marks its first year with the Cybercrime Atlas Impact Report 2024, which provides a roadmap for the systematic disruption of cybercrime and highlights the community's progress in combating cybercriminal activities. Read here.

👀 Pravda

A Polish fact-checking organization, and Code for Africahave teamed up in the "TruthAfrica" project to combat disinformation and foreign information manipulation (FIMI) in Africa, aiming to strengthen societal resilience and safeguard democratic values, with a focus on countries like Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Chad, Egypt, Uganda, and Zambia, using frameworks such as DISARM and advanced data analysis tools. Find out more.

• We worked together with Pravda last summer, analyzing an old Ponzi scheme that over the years only changed its name, yet its modus operandi remained the same despite hefty financial penalties.

• They have a young, dynamic team, so it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on what they’ll do with the TruthAfrica project.

Espionage & Counterintelligence

• Russia speeds up recruitment of mercenaries from Africa. Find out more.

• Ethiopia's Spy Chief Conducts East Africa Tour Amid Regional Unrest. Find out more.

• Niel Barnard, who passed away on January 13, 2025, at the age of 75, served as the head of South Africa’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) and was a key figure working alongside President PW Botha during the 1980s.

SOCMINT

Instagram now shows users which Reels their friends have liked, displaying their profile photos and hearts on the videos, potentially increasing engagement but raising privacy concerns. A similar mechanism exists in the BeReal app.

Age restriction in sm

Several countries have introduced age restrictions on social media use: Australia mandates a minimum age of 16, France requires parental consent for users under 15, Florida in the USA bans it for those under 14 starting January 2025, and China limits Douyin (TikTok) to 40 minutes daily for kids under 14. Now, Indonesia is planning to set a minimum age for social media users, though no concrete decision has been made yet.

OSINT

Tools

• Nuclei Disaster Worldwide Map – A global map displaying nuclear infrastructure and historical targets.

• Data Portals – Search across 599 portals worldwide for government data, professional registries, court records, cadastral maps, and more.

  • Example from this database: openAFRICA – Africa's largest volunteer-driven open data platform, aiming to be the biggest independent repository of open data on the continent.

• South Africa OSINT Dashboard – A curated collection of open source intelligence resources for South Africa.

• Africa Check is an organization focused on fact-checking to improve the quality of information in Africa by verifying claims in the media, politics, and society.

Privacy

• RocketReach - we all know this tool; it gives us the opportunity to obtain contact data for our points of interest (POI), like email addresses and phone numbers. They sometimes keep old versions of LinkedIn profiles, which provides OSINT analysts with additional information. But on the flip side, our profiles are there too. If you want to remove your profile, there are two ways to do it - if you see your email added to your account, you can report it here, and if it's just the profile without an email, you can write to support - [email protected] - they remove it within an hour of the report.

• Here's a website - Mine - I sometimes use, especially when I have old emails and can't remember where I created an account; it shows which platforms are connected to the email address.

Google Updates

• Google Testing AI-Generated "What People Are Asking"
  Google is experimenting with an AI-generated version of the "What People Are Asking" feature, mixing it with traditional search results.

• From ChatGPT to Gemini: How AI is Changing the Internet
  AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google's Gemini are reshaping how we interact with the internet, from search to social media.

• Google Won't Add Fact-Checks Despite New EU Law
  Despite new EU regulations, Google has decided not to implement fact-checking features into its search results.

Upcoming CyberSec / OSINT Events

Free

Join the free virtual SANS OSINT Summit & Training 2025 from February 24-25 for select content.

Paid

If you ever have the chance to attend this event, I highly encourage you to do so.

ISS World Middle East and Africa 2025 (February 11-13) - is the world's largest gathering of law enforcement, intelligence, and security professionals, focusing on cybercrime investigation, electronic surveillance, and intelligence gathering. Register here.

🙃 Bonus

Explore the latest advancements in criminal investigation with The Investigator magazine! This free issue covers covert policing, tech-facilitated trafficking, the National Intelligence Model, forensic breakthroughs, and victim protection measures in the UK. Read it here: The Investigator.