Kenya urges massive investment in cyber security

Kenya on Sunday called for increased investment in cyber security to curb the growing incidences of cyber crime targeting the country's digital economy.

Joe Mucheru, the ICT Ministry Cabinet Secretary, particularly appealed to the private sector to invest in cyber security infrastructure to complement ongoing government efforts to curb the vice.

Mucheru cited investment opportunities for players in the internet security space to ensure security infrastructure matches current threat trends.

"We have the Computer and Cybercrimes Bill 2016 which is headed to parliament. We want to introduce stiffer penalties for cybercrime and online corporate espionage," he said in Nairobi during a forum to improve a local school's infrastructure.

Kenya ranks among African countries with the highest vulnerability to cyber attacks due to its huge internet penetration and use in all spheres of life.

The East Africa nation has strengthened its capacity to mitigate cyber attacks from local and foreign adversaries.

Though a recent report by Jumia Business Intelligence and GSMA Mobile showed that Kenya is leading Africa in internet penetration with over 30 million having access to the internet, the positive trajectory has seen a sharp rise in cybercrime targeting financial institutions and mobile money transaction platforms.

The Kenya Cybersecurity Report 2016 published by Serianu Limited, estimates that about 44 percent of financial institutions run on a paltry cyber security budget of below 1,000 U.S. dollars annually, whilst about 33 percent of financial institutions in Kenya have no expenditure on all matters cyber security.

Mucheru said jobs were moving online with the freelancing economy in the United States clocking 1 trillion dollars and about 34 percent of Americans working online.

"The very essence of introducing Ajira Digital in partnership with Rockefeller Foundation and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance was to tap online job opportunities for the youth. We will not relent on this initiative because of challenges posed by cybercrime," he added.

The CS urged local businesses to focus on opportunities in addressing potential challenges around Internet of Things (IOT) and mobile communications that are fast becoming new targets of attack by cybercrimials.

"In the next one year we expect that over 40 million new devices, mainly smart phones will be imported into the country, all these are potential new targets especially if users are not aware of the cyber risks," he said. Endit