Journal of African Development

Cybersecurity and data protection are now a major concern in today's digital age, especially as organizations continue to expand their online operations and digital technologies. Cloud computing, AI, e-commerce, and network integration are key elements in enabling digital businesses to enhance their operation and customer interactions. But, organizations have also seen multiple cyber threats emerge in this digital transformation, such as phishing, ransomware, malware, insider threats and distributed denial-of-service attacks. As cyber attacks become more frequent and sophisticated, data privacy, financial security, operational continuity, and organization reputation issues have become significant challenges.

This research investigates the significant cyber risks that are facing digital businesses and discusses the best ways of protecting data to mitigate cybersecurity risks. The study covers all the available literature on cybersecurity management, cloud security, AI-based threat detection, encryption technologies, and regulatory measures like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The research also looks at the difficulties companies encounter when trying to implement cybersecurity measures, like financial constraints, lack of cybersecurity experts, employee negligence, and new attack methods.