Companies urged to tighten online firewalls
Steve Umidha @UmidhaSteve
Kenyan firms must double their guard against threats from cyber criminals, the banking regulator has warned.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said yesterday in a statement criminals are taking advantage of opportunities brought by increased digitisation to attack easy targets.
“While digitisation offers immense opportunities, emerging risks must be kept in check.
Cyber security continues to evolve rapidly as more citizens enter the digital realm.
Personal Data trails continue to grow exponentially as the pandemic accelerates the digitalization of the global economy.
We must therefore ensure that there are sufficient safeguards against these risks to protect our citizens,” reads in part the CBK statement.
Hacking activities targeting corporations spiked since the onset of the pandemic as digital thieves took advantage of weakened security with more people working from home.
Phishing attacks
Companies started reporting increased instances of pony-trekking, mainly through password compromises, due to the unprecedented changes in the way firms and their employees are currently forced to do business.
A report by Liquid Telecom for instance dubbed IT and Financial Decision Makers views on Cybersecurity in South Africa and Kenya published on September 4 noted that ransomware attacks increased significantly from March as the country curtailed movement to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“Password compromises and insider threats were the biggest cyber threats. Just over half of the businesses surveyed have experienced a cybersecurity threat during the Covid-19 pandemic, with 46 per cent saying yes in South Africa and 75 per cent in Kenya,” reads the report, which noted a surge in phishing or social engineering attacks.
