E-Business
Treepz Relaunches its Consumer app as Africa’s Largest Car-Sharing Marketplace

Treepz, the leading African mobility company, has re-launched its consumer facing app as a new innovation in Africa. It is the first car-sharing marketplace in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda created to serve more than 26 million vehicle owners in Africa today.
The marketplace allows car owners to rent out their vehicles for short to long-term periods, providing a more affordable and sustainable option for mobility in Africa.
With over 600 million Africans living in urban areas and less than 44 cars per 1,000 people, the demand for affordable transportation options is high. Treepz’s car-sharing platform addresses this need by allowing people to rent a car only when they need it and for flexible rental periods. This helps reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions, leading to a more sustainable transportation system.
The car-sharing market in Africa is expected to grow at an annual rate of 20% from 2020 to 2030, with a projected market value of $500 million. Treepz, as Africa’s largest car-sharing marketplace by market size of our their operations, is well-positioned to take advantage of this growth and provide an affordable and sustainable transportation option for people across the continent.
The marketplace is available on iOS and Android and offers a variety of vehicles, including sedans, SUVs, vans, and buses. Renters can search for vehicles by inputting their location and duration and choose from a list of several car owners, makes, and models. Car owners can set their prices, availability, and long-term booking discounts, among other functionalities.
Notable businesses such as Wakanow and Tekexperts in Nigeria, Twiga Foods and Diamond Trust Bank in Kenya and many more organizations in Africa have already been using the Treepz solution for their staff, but now, Treepz is rolling out the consumer side of the service to make access to vehicles for rent easier.
Treepz is backed by notable investors such as Google, SOSV, Goodwater Capital, Techstars and GIIG Africa Fund, among others, which adds credibility to the company and its new marketplace.
According to Treepz’s CEO, Onyeka Akumah, “The new Treepz is an exciting innovation for transportation in Africa. We are making better use of more than 26 million vehicles available on the continent to provide commuters with enjoyable and fun transportation service as they travel for work or simply enjoy a smooth ride across the safaris in the continent.
Today we are regarded as the largest car-sharing marketplace in Africa and we have seized that opportunity with the technology we’ve built for hosts (vehicle owners or rental companies) to manage their inventory, reach new customers and track their growth. While guests who book from these host have the luxury to select their dream car for work, pleasure or exploration with a vetted driver.
We have spent the last 5 months building this solution and we are excited to introduce you to this in Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Kenya. Treepz is at the forefront of this important movement with guest and host enjoying their commute on the continent. Our goal to listen to our customers and keep making them happy with every trip they make with us at Treepz.”
E-Business
Firm Reports a 48% Increase in Malicious Packages Threatening Software Supply Chains

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.
E-Business
NDPC Probes Suspected Data Breach in Examination Centres

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.
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.
E-Business
Nigeria Among Hotspots as Kaspersky Warns of Rising Ransomware Threat in Africa

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.
- E-Financial2 days ago
EFCC Recovers over N20Bn Stolen by Hackers from 6 Banks in Nigeria
- Telecom2 days ago
Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani Receives Two Prestigious @ABoICT Awards
- Telecom2 days ago
FG to Deploy 80 Percent of 7000 Telecom Towers to North
- E-Financial2 days ago
UBA Launches *919# Advance Top-Up Feature for Instant Access to Customers
- News2 days ago
EFCC Recovers Funds, Arrests Suspects in N1.3 Trillion CBEX Crypto Fraud
- E-Financial2 days ago
Ponzi Scheme Operators Risk N10m Penalty, Others- IST Chair
- E-Financial2 days ago
Court to Deliver Judgment in NIBSS’ Suit against CBN, Others over BVN Database Management
- Telecom2 days ago
SBTS Group CEO Evelyn Lewis Named Among Nigeria’s Top 50 Digital Economy Leaders for Youth-Focused Tech Initiatives