African Union

The African Union (AU), formerly known as the Organization of African Unity (OAU), is a continental organization dedicated to promoting unity, solidarity, and cooperation among African states. Its core mandate involves accelerating political and socio-economic integration, defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states, and coordinating policies to foster development across the continent. The AU actively works to promote peace, security, and stability through frameworks like the African Peace and Security Architecture, while also setting continental agendas in trade, infrastructure, health, and education. Headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, it serves as the principal platform for African nations to formulate collective positions on global matters and advance the continent's shared interests.

In March 2023, the AU suffered a major cyber attack that compromised numerous IT assets within its data center, forcing an emergency network shutdown to contain the damage. The incident caused widespread service and application outages, disrupting critical operations and necessitating that staff work remotely via mobile hotspots. Over 200 corrupted devices were identified for remediation, although cloud-stored data remained secure. Recovery efforts utilized existing disaster recovery systems and operational applications to restore partial functionality. The organization confirmed the disruptions resulted from a cyber attack but did not attribute it to any specific source, noting ongoing investigations. This event highlights the AU's exposure to digital threats and its dependence on resilient IT infrastructure to sustain its continental functions.