In June, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) published its 2025 Africa Cyber Threat Assessment Report, which featured alarming findings about a sharp rise in cybercrime on the continent. The report revealed that cybercrime accounts for more than 30 percent of all reported crimes in eastern and western Africa, while noting that ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), and digital sextortion also remain widespread.
In the age of digitization, strong cybersecurity policies and adequate enforcement are crucial to maintaining safety and security, yet Interpol indicates that 90 percent of African countries report needing ‘significant improvement’ in law enforcement or prosecution capacity.
Africa’s race to catch up to the quickly evolving world of cyber was on the agenda during the Global Forum on Cybersecurity Expertise, which took place this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Among those in attendance was Craig Jones, a seasoned international expert in cybersecurity and law enforcement. Jones served as head of Interpol’s cybercrime division for five years beginning 2019 following an impressive career in cybersecurity in the UK, his home country.
At Interpol, Jones spearheaded the Global Cybercrime Programme that brought together law enforcement, governments, and private sector partners from 196 countries in an effort to combat the growing threat from digital crime. Today, he works as an advisor and consultant in cybersecurity.
Jones caught up with The Reporter’s Ashenafi Endale on the sidelines of the forum in Riyadh to provide his expert opinion on Africa’s cybersecurity prospects, the challenges the continent can expect ahead, and the tools on offer in the new age of security. EXCERPTS:
As Ethiopia progresses in digitization and the online presence of its citizens and institutions grows, so does the exposure to cybersecurity threats. Do you think Ethiopia’s cybersecurity defenses are evolving at an equal pace to its digitization?
You are quite right, as a country’s digitization grows out, it does so at a rapid pace because it’s enabling communities to improve their business functions and their sociability as well. And what we have to build into that is the security side of that. Now, countries have cybersecurity strategies but often those strategies can lag behind. And there is a cost to cybersecurity. We’ve been used to using the open, free internet and all of a sudden we’re told we have to pay and put security in. That’s quite difficult when it’s something we can’t feel or touch; unlike when we lock our car or when we lock our houses with burglar alarms.
There’s a lot of work to do, not just in Ethiopia, but in a number of countries around building out that cybersecurity model. But I wouldn’t put the emphasis just on the Ethiopian government and communities, I’d also put that on the industries that are supplying the infrastructure in terms of hardware and also the software that runs it. There has to be security baked into that infrastructure and also the software. But that does come at a cost, unfortunately.
According to Interpol’s 2025 Africa Cyber Threat Assessment Report, two-thirds of African member countries surveyed said that cyber-related crimes accounted for a medium-to-high share of all crimes, rising to 30 percent in western and eastern Africa. Does this include Ethiopia?
Yes, absolutely. That cyber threat assessment is a really important report that we first started doing around 2021 because if we don’t understand the threat and we don’t have the data, then we’re not able to put things in place around that. Based on that report, Interpol was able to set up their regional operations desk in Africa supported by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. And what that allowed Interpol to do with those countries is drive operational activities which targeted criminals operating in the African region, but also allowed us to undertake preventative measures and identify vulnerabilities in, for example, public administration systems and financial sectors. We really shone a light on where the threats were going to be impacting [to be able to] do something about it.
Interpol recently ranked Ethiopia as the world’s most targeted country for malware in 2024, signaling the scale of threats facing African governments and institutions. Can you elaborate on this? How do you evaluate INSA’s agility in the face of rising threats?
When I was at Interpol, before I left last year after the end of my five-year tenure, we saw attacks through malware. Trying to assess the level and scale of that can be very, very challenging. That’s why when Interpol were writing those reports, they worked very closely with the private sector. Because the private sector had the understanding and knowledge, and [Interpol] could look in and see exactly what was going on. So, taking their data and information and aggregating that with police reporting gave us a really rounded picture and the Interpol reports are probably some of the most in-depth reports for that region across all pieces of cybercrime.
Which institutions, organizations, and sectors are targeted by cybercrime in Ethiopia?
I don’t think Ethiopia is any different to any other country: public sector. The public sector is often targeted because of the data and also because of the destruction it can cause. That’s followed by the financial sector and telecommunications. The reason the criminals target these sectors in particular is the disruption it causes. If they do a ransomware attack, which is where they attack an institution and encrypt the data set, the government or financial sector find it very difficult to operate thereafter. That then puts pressure on them to potentially pay a ransom to the criminals, or they have to rebuild everything and that can take a lot of time and cause massive disruption to a country.
Can you quantify the potential economic losses brought on by cybercrime in Ethiopia?
When you look at the economy of any nation, when a cyber-attack happens and closes down the infrastructure in that country so people are no longer able to log in to their emails or make financial transactions, that has a massive impact. We’ve seen in the UK recently the attack on Jaguar Land Rover. There, you’re looking at maybe 50 million pounds per week in losses for that company. But it’s the trickle-down effect to everybody else that’s connected to an organization, so when they can’t operate, they can’t pay their bills, they can’t take out cash, they can’t purchase food. It’s not just the economic loss, it’s that impact on society as well.
How can Ethiopia work with Interpol to counter the growing threat of cybercrime?
When I was at Interpol, we set up the regional operation desk in Africa. Ethiopia is part of that model. They get training, they get support. More importantly, what Interpol were able to do with the private sector is identify criminals operating in Ethiopia, or in other countries in the region. We brought law enforcement together in Rwanda in 2022, where we trained up over 40 people. And you’ve seen on the news recently some of the results they’ve had. Criminals have been arrested, money is being recovered, and communities are being made safer.
What is expected from the Global Forum on Cybersecurity Expertise?
At this forum, we have a number of international leaders in both government and industry as well. What we’re doing is discussing the challenges we face. As a foundation board member of the Global Forum on Cybersecurity Expertise, we’re really concerned about the capacity of countries in the global south. And when I talk about the global south, I’m talking about those less developed countries. How can we level up the playing field for law enforcement, for example, or government. How can we help them develop those strategies and policies, which then can be implemented in their countries to protect their communities? It is also addressing women and empowering women in cybersecurity. We see a massive underrepresentation of women in this area and industry. Here in Saudi Arabia, for example, women account for over 33 percent of the cybersecurity industry. I wish those figures could be repeated around the globe as well.
What differentiates a country with strong cybersecurity systems and one with weak ones? What are the parameters?
What we’re looking at here is the frameworks, the monitoring, and the reporting. SOme countries have little or no reporting, infrastructure, or frameworks in place to identify the attacks that are going on within their boundaries. Some countries have really strong national cybersecurity centers that work directly with government, law enforcement, and also the industry. What they’re able to do there, where it may be more digitally enhanced, is they’re able to see the greater picture and then put policies in place, but also more importantly set out objectives for the different departments and agencies who can then put in the cybersecurity measures and protect communities.
Is cybersecurity taking precedence over traditional national security, characterized by military and intelligence? Or do you believe cybersecurity is enhancing traditional approaches?
Up until about a year ago, I would have said cybersecurity is more on the agenda of governments. But I think as we’ve seen the conflicts around the world, different countries are now looking inwardly at their own defenses and that very much is about the security posture of a country. The countries that are getting it right are those that are doing a blended approach. They’re not just looking at cyber in isolation. They’re looking at cyber as a potential threat alongside all the others. But any country has to make those risk-based decisions. Where are they going to invest at this moment in time?
What can you tell us about how Interpol operates and how it collaborates with its member countries as well as other organizations like the UN?
Interpol is a neutral organization. It is an international, intergovernmental organization. It has 196 member countries. Interpol has a very clear constitution, which all member countries have to sign up to. Interpol is not able to intervene in anything political, religious, or military. It only deals with crime. If it is a crime recognized in a country, it can go through that country’s judiciary process. If someone flees that country, the country can write what we call a red notice, or wanted notice for a person. That’s placed on the Interpol systems. All 196 countries have access to that system. So if someone was to travel from one country to another and they had a red notice on them, they would be detained upon entering the second country and extradited back to the original country. It sounds a little complicated, but it does work. Just recently we have seen in Qatar, for example, a Canadian person that had been wanted for three years for murder was identified in that country. The red notice was seen. He was detained in Qatar and currently the extradition process is being gone through by Qatar and Canada. So Interpol’s role in connecting policing for a safer world is really important, and the tools and platforms that Interpol provides are a neutral platform for all countries to access.
