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Intel, MTN Group collaborate to accelerate broadband adoption in Africa and Middle East

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Intel Corporation and MTN Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will see the companies collaborate to accelerate the deployment and penetration of broadband access in Africa and the Middle East
The collaboration covers a wide spectrum of initiatives, including areas such as broadband access through WiMax deployment, affordable PC bundles for the ordinary African consumer and entrepreneurs as well as cost-effective internet browsing devices.
Other areas of collaboration include joint efforts by the MTN Foundation and Intel Education’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to equip students and teachers with technology skills. These initiatives will contribute to the development of young people in Africa by equipping them with up to date maths and science skills as well as life skills such as critical thinking in the current knowledge economy.
“Strategies developed by MTN and Intel to connect the next generation of broadband users in Africa and the Middle East were a perfect fit, which is why we went into discussions to collaborate,” says Jacques van Schalkwyk Territory Manager for South and Sub-Saharan Africa at Intel Corporation. “Both companies have expertise in different aspects of ICT deployment and together we can accelerate bridging the digital divide on the continent.”
Says Christian De Faria, MTN Group’s Senior Vice President, Commercial and Innovation: “MTN recognises the strategic value of partnering with an industry player of Intel’s calibre and stature. We believe this MOU will facilitate the establishment of joint initiatives to support our broadband strategy as well as CSR projects.”
The memorandum underpins the importance of industry leaders such as Intel and MTN to collaborate in order to bring sustainable ICT development to the region. “In this way we can accelerate Africa’s entry into the 21st century knowledge and digital economy which will give its citizens economic opportunities similar to those in developed countries,” concludes van Schalkwyk.
Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live.
Through its World Ahead Program, Intel strives to improve education, health care, entrepreneurship and government services in developing countries worldwide by accelerating access to computers, connectivity and localized Internet content.
Meanwhile, Intel Corporation, last week revealed several significant design features for its 2011 2nd Generation Intel Core processor family at the Intel Developer Forum.
The new and enhanced features will further extend Intel’s chip performance and battery life leadership, and add a number of visually related features built right into the chips.
Codenamed “Sandy Bridge,” the chips will be based on Intel’s first new “visibly smart” microarchitecture produced on the company’s cutting-edge manufacturing factories, or “fabs,” at 32-nanometer (nm is a billionth of a meter) process technology with second- generation high-k metal gate transistors.
“The way people and businesses are using computers is evolving at an explosive rate, fueling demand for an even more powerful and visually appealing experience,” said Dadi Perlmutter, executive vice president and general manager of the Intel Architecture Group. “Our upcoming 2nd Generation Intel Core processor family represents the biggest advance in computing performance and capabilities over any previous generation. In addition to offering these features inside Intel-based laptops, we plan to scale these advances across our server data center and embedded computing product portfolio.”
The processor family will include a new “ring” architecture that allows the built-in processor graphics engine to share resources such as cache, or a memory reservoir, with the processor’s core to increase a device’s computing and graphics performance while maintaining energy efficiency. 
The 2nd Generation Intel Core processor also includes an enhanced version of Intel® Turbo Boost Technology. This feature automatically shifts or reallocates processor cores and processor
graphics resources to accelerate performance, tailoring a workload to give users an immediate performance boost when needed. 
Laptops and PCs powered by the 2nd Generation Intel Core processor family are expected to be available early next year.
The new Intel processor graphics delivers enhanced visual features focused on the areas where most users are computing today:  HD video, 3-D, mainstream gaming, multi-tasking and online socializing and multimedia.
To obtain and view video faster, Perlmutter demonstrated hardware accelerated video editing using the architecture’s dedicated silicon for media processing, which allows users to quickly convert video to other formats.
The 2011 chips also come with Intel Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX).  AVX delivers improved performance, rich functionality and the ability to better manage, rearrange and sort data. A new 256-bit instruction set accelerates floating point intensive applications such as digital photo editing and content creation.
Intel also demonstrated a dual processor, next-generation Intel  Xeon processor server running Vidyo video conferencing software that utilizes the 32 threads available on the system, and takes advantage of the AES New Instructions set (AESNI).  Next-generation Xeon processors for 2 socket servers and workstations run 8 cores and 16 threads per processor and are on schedule for production in the second half of 2011.
Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live.


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Firm Reports a 48% Increase in Malicious Packages Threatening Software Supply Chains

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Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) experts at the 10th annual Cyber Security Weekend – META 2025 held recently, talked about supply chain attacks and reported that by the end of 2024 a total of 14,000 malicious packages were found in open-source projects, a 48% increase compared to the end of 2023. 42 million versions of open-source packages have been examined by Kaspersky throughout 2024 in search for vulnerabilities.

Open-source is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance. Popular open-source packages include GoMod, Maven, NuGet, npm, PyPI, and others.

These are tools that power countless applications and help developers easily find, install, and manage pre-built code libraries, making it simpler to build software by reusing code others have written. Attackers take advantage of the popularity of these and other packages.

In March 2025, the Lazarus Group was reported to have deployed several malicious npm packages, which were downloaded multiple times before removal. These packages contained malware to steal credentials, cryptocurrency wallet data, and deploy backdoors, targeting developers’ systems across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

The attack leveraged GitHub repositories for added legitimacy, highlighting the group’s sophisticated supply chain tactics. Kaspersky’s GReAT also found other npm packages related to this attack. Malicious npm packages could have been integrated into web development, cryptocurrency platforms, and enterprise software, risking widespread data theft and financial losses.

In 2024, a sophisticated backdoor was discovered in XZ Utils versions 5.6.0 and 5.6.1, a widely used compression library in Linux distributions. Inserted by a trusted contributor, the malicious code targeted SSH servers, enabling remote command execution and threatening countless systems globally.

Detected before widespread exploitation due to performance anomalies, the incident highlighted the dangers of supply chain attacks. XZ Utils is integral to operating systems, cloud servers, and IoT devices, making its compromise a threat to critical infrastructure and enterprise networks.

In 2024, Kaspersky’s GReAT discovered that attackers uploaded malicious Python packages like chatgpt-python and chatgpt-wrapper to PyPI, mimicking legitimate tools for interacting with ChatGPT APIs.

These packages, designed to steal credentials and deploy backdoors, capitalised on the popularity of AI development to trick developers into downloading them. These packages could have been used in AI development, chatbot integrations, and data analytics platforms, endangering sensitive AI workflows and user data.

“Open-source software is the backbone of many modern solutions, but its openness is being weaponised. The 50% rise in malicious packages by the end of 2024 shows attackers are actively embedding sophisticated backdoors and data stealers in popular packages, which millions rely on.

“Without rigorous vetting and real-time monitoring, a single compromised package can trigger a global breach. Organisations need to secure the supply chain before the next XZ Utils-level attack succeeds,” comments Dmitry Galov, Head of Research Center for Russia and CIS at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team.


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NDPC Probes Suspected Data Breach in Examination Centres

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Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has launched an investigation into allegations that the confidentiality and integrity of candidates’ personal data may have been compromised by hackers.

NDPC Probes Suspected Data Breach in Examination Centres

The Commission initiated the inquiry following concerns over possible data breaches during examinations.

Preliminary findings indicate that several examination centres may not have implemented adequate technical and organizational measures to safeguard candidates’ personal information, as required under data protection regulations.

Although the incident reportedly affected 379, 997 candidates, the NDPC’s investigation is poised to cover a systemic audit of data processing and third parties.

It will be recalled that JAMB recently admitted that a technical error on its platform affected a total of 379,997 candidates in 157 examination centres across Lagos and the South-East.

Further investigation led to the arrest of at least 20 suspects who are currently in the custody of the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Police Force.

 

 

 


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Nigeria Among Hotspots as Kaspersky Warns of Rising Ransomware Threat in Africa

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Cyber security firm, Kaspersky, has once again warned that sophisticated cybercriminals increasingly target Africa as ransomware and advanced persistent threats (APTs) escalate across the region.

Speaking at the company’s annual Cyber Security Weekend for the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region, the cybersecurity firm’s Global Research and Analysis Team highlighted growing digital threats affecting African nations.

Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa emerged as hotspots, with Kenya recording one of the highest web threat incident rates at 20.1% in first quarter 2025.

“While ransomware is less prevalent in Africa due to lower levels of digitisation and economic constraints, countries like South Africa and Nigeria are seeing a sharp rise in attacks,” said Sergey Lozhkin, head of META and APAC regions at Kaspersky.

Kaspersky noted a 0.01 percentage point increase in African ransomware cases year-on-year, reaching 0.41%, still below global and Middle Eastern averages, but a troubling sign for the continent’s emerging digital infrastructure.

Experts warned that attackers are refining their tactics, shifting focus to unconventional entry points like IoT devices, smart appliances, and misconfigured hardware.

“As these economies expand digitally, sectors such as manufacturing, finance and government are becoming key targets,” said Lozhkin

The cyber-crime landscape is evolving quickly, fuelled by AI tools and dark web access to large language models, which enable less skilled actors to launch convincing phishing and malware campaigns.

Groups like FunkSec, which uses AI-generated code and a low-cost ransom model, are redefining ransomware operations.

“African organisations face the dual challenge of expanding digital footprints and limited cybersecurity awareness. This makes layered defense strategies, including network segmentation, real-time monitoring and regular staff training, essential,” stated Lozhkin

Kaspersky continues to monitor 25 active APT groups in the META region, including SideWinder and MuddyWater, some of which are known to target African institutions.

To bolster defenses, the firm recommends using tools such as its free Anti-Ransomware Tool for Business and the Kaspersky Next suite for threat visibility and response.

 


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