Karen Allen warns of AI-related cyber threats in Africa
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Expansao
Karen Allen, a consultant at the Institute for Security Studies, is calling on African leaders to prepare better for cyberattacks, surveillance operations and influence campaigns facilitated by artificial intelligence. An Anthropic report cites cases in Kenya, the Central African Republic, the DRC, Sudan and Mali, according to the specialist’s analysis.
Africa must prepare for large-scale cyber threats fuelled by artificial intelligence, warns Karen Allen, a consultant at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), based in Pretoria. She was responding to an Anthropic report on the malicious use of its artificial intelligence agent Claude, according to Expansão.
The report says Claude, used by about 30 million people worldwide, has been used in cyberattacks, surveillance operations and influence campaigns. The cases studied include Kenya, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Mali. Allen believes that low levels of digital literacy and the delay in regulating the development of AI leave citizens vulnerable to data theft, surveillance and online manipulation.
In Mali, Claude models were reportedly used in surveillance operations. In the Central African Republic, researchers detected a network of fake radio stations broadcasting AI-generated content, while the DRC featured in a fake news production network. Allen added that several influence campaigns are linked to foreign actors, including Russians, and that AI is accelerating their spread.
She recalled that campaigns designed to imitate spontaneous support have already been used during elections in Kenya. Her warning also concerns Angola, which is due to hold general elections next year, reports Expansão.
