A new report by global cybersecurity firm Surfshark reveals that 10% of Nigerians have fallen victim to data breaches since 2004, with alarming implications for the country’s cybersecurity landscape. Based on data from 29,000 publicly available databases, the report highlights that over 23 million Nigerian user accounts have been compromised in the past two decades. The breaches have exposed sensitive information like passwords, email addresses, and phone numbers, impacting millions of citizens.
The Surfshark research found that Nigeria’s vulnerability to cyberattacks remains a significant concern, with 7.3 million unique email addresses and 13 million passwords leaked into the public domain. Despite a sharp 85% drop in new breaches in early 2025, Nigeria still recorded over 119,000 compromised accounts in the first quarter of the year. This places Nigeria 34th globally in terms of breach volume.
While global data breaches have seen a dramatic decline, the situation in Nigeria continues to raise alarms. More than half of Nigerians affected by breaches are at an increased risk of identity theft, extortion, and unauthorized access to their online accounts. The report notes that in Q1 2025, one Nigerian account was breached every minute, underscoring the scale of the problem.
In a global context, the United States, Russia, and India are among the countries with the highest number of breached accounts, but smaller nations like South Sudan, Spain, and Slovenia report higher breach densities per capita. The report emphasizes that while the overall number of data leaks has fallen globally, the cybersecurity threats remain ever-evolving.
Surfshark’s research lead, Luís Costa, cautioned that despite the decline in breach numbers, the threat of cyberattacks persists. He stressed the importance of strong security practices, such as regular password updates and enabling two-factor authentication, to protect personal data. The report calls for enhanced cybersecurity measures and greater public awareness in Nigeria to prevent further exposure to cybercriminals.
Source: Leadership