How Safaricom Business Is Redefining Cybersecurity For Enterprises

Across Kenya, enterprises are digitising at speed. Payments are instant. Workforces are remote. Infrastructure is cloud-based. But as digital dependence deepens, so does exposure. Cybersecurity has become the backbone of trust, shaping whether businesses can operate securely, comply with regulation, and protect their reputations in an increasingly hostile threat environment.

For enterprises operating in Kenya, that trust is under sustained attack. System vulnerabilities, AI-driven social engineering, payment fraud, ransomware, and increasingly sophisticated cloud and IoT-based threats are reshaping the risk landscape. As Digital risk escalates, enterprises must treat cybersecurity as a strategic enabler of growth and resilience. Safaricom Business partners with organizations to assess their risk exposure, strengthen their security posture, and build trusted digital operations at scale.

A Worsening Cyber Threat Landscape in Kenya

Recent data illustrates the scale and urgency of the challenge facing enterprises. Between January and March 2025 alone, Kenya recorded approximately 2.54 billion cyber threat events, representing a 201.7 percent increase compared to the previous quarter, according to data from the Communications Authority of Kenya. The overwhelming majority of these incidents, about 2.47 billion, were linked to system vulnerabilities, underlining how unpatched software and infrastructure gaps continue to be the most exploited attack vectors.

The surge has been relentless. By mid-2025, the total number of detected cyber threats for the year reportedly surpassed seven billion. The financial implications are equally stark. The 2025 Serianu Cybersecurity Report estimates that Kenya lost roughly KES 29.9 billion to cybercrime during the year, with payment fraud emerging as the most prevalent and costly vector.

Beyond sheer volume, the sophistication of attacks is increasing. Enterprises are contending with AI-powered phishing campaigns, deepfake-enabled fraud, cloud service exploits, compromised web applications, and vulnerabilities across expanding IoT environments. For business leaders, these are no longer abstract risks. They represent direct threats to operations, customer trust, and regulatory standing.

Safaricom Business Cybersecurity as an Enterprise Shield

As enterprises expand across branches, cloud environments, e-commerce platforms, and distributed workforces, cybersecurity must evolve from a perimeter-based model into a continuous, adaptive, and holistic defence system. Safaricom Business has built its cybersecurity portfolio around this reality.

At the core of its offering is a 24/7 Managed Security Operations Centre, designed to provide continuous monitoring, detection, and response across enterprise networks and systems. Operating as an always-on command centre, the SOC analyses real-time network activity, identifies anomalies and emerging threats, and supports rapid incident response. In a market where system vulnerabilities dominate attack vectors, continuous surveillance and early detection are no longer optional capabilities.

Beyond monitoring, Safaricom Business addresses the complexity of modern enterprise environments through integrated endpoint and network protection. With employees working across offices, homes, mobile devices, and cloud platforms, the traditional network perimeter has dissolved. Endpoint security solutions protect laptops, desktops, and mobile devices, while network-level controls such as firewalls, VPNs, and secure access mechanisms safeguard remote connectivity and multi-branch operations. Additional protections, including web application security, DDoS mitigation, and secure cloud hosting, help ensure that digital services remain available and protected as businesses scale.

Security, Compliance, and Governance by Design

As cyber threats rise, so does regulatory scrutiny. Enterprises in sectors such as finance, healthcare, telecommunications, and public services face growing obligations around data protection, audit readiness, and incident reporting. Safaricom Business integrates governance, risk, and compliance considerations directly into its cybersecurity services, helping organisations navigate regulatory requirements without building costly in-house security operations from scratch.

Through security assessments, risk audits, data loss prevention measures, and compliance-ready logging and reporting, enterprises are better positioned to meet both national regulations and sector-specific standards. This approach recognises that cybersecurity is not just about defence, but about enabling confidence in digital operations at scale.

Designed to Scale with the Enterprise

One of the defining challenges of cybersecurity is its constantly shifting threat landscape. AI-driven attacks, expanding IoT deployments, and increasingly complex supply chains ensure that security requirements today will not be sufficient tomorrow. Safaricom Business addresses this reality through modular, scalable cybersecurity services that grow alongside the enterprise.

From foundational endpoint protection for smaller organisations to advanced managed security, cloud-integrated safeguards, and enterprise-grade incident response for large, multi-branch corporations, the model is designed for flexibility. This ensures that businesses of all sizes can access the same posture of resilience and trust, without outgrowing their security infrastructure as digital transformation accelerates.

Why Cybersecurity Has Become a Boardroom Issue

The scale and cost of cyber threats mean cybersecurity can no longer be treated as a purely technical concern. It is now a strategic business priority. Trust has become a competitive differentiator, particularly in an environment of rising fraud and data breaches where customers and partners are increasingly security-conscious. A single incident can erode years of brand equity.

Operational continuity is also at stake. Cyber incidents that result in downtime, data loss, or service disruption carry immediate financial and reputational consequences. At the same time, regulatory penalties for non-compliance with data protection and cybersecurity requirements are becoming more stringent.

As enterprises accelerate cloud adoption, embrace IoT, and enable hybrid work, every new digital asset introduces potential exposure. Compounding the challenge is a global shortage of skilled cybersecurity talent. As attacks grow more sophisticated, particularly with AI-enabled techniques, building and sustaining world-class in-house cyber operations is becoming unrealistic for many organisations. Managed cybersecurity services are increasingly emerging as a practical and strategic necessity.

Trust as the Foundation of Digital Growth

Kenya’s digital economy continues to expand rapidly across fintech, e-commerce, logistics, cloud computing, and connected infrastructure. This growth presents enormous opportunity, but it also exposes enterprises to an unprecedented volume and complexity of cyber threats.

In this environment, Safaricom Business Cybersecurity represents more than a collection of technical tools. It functions as trust infrastructure, combining continuous monitoring, holistic protection, compliance readiness, and adaptive security built for scale. For enterprises focused on sustainable growth, operational stability, and long-term customer confidence, cybersecurity is no longer optional.

In a digital Kenya, trust is foundational. Safaricom Business is not only helping enterprises connect, but enabling them to remain secure, resilient, and future-ready in an increasingly hostile cyber landscape.