Experts call on government to enhance cyber security

Technology experts have asked the government to conduct extensive cyber security awareness to protect aState embarks on the roll out of 25,000 WiFi hotspots across the country.

Speaking on the sidelines of an ongoing workshop in Mombasa yesterday, the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) Kenya president, Anthony Muiyuro, warned that without cyber safety training, the project could hand hackers a new window to pounce on unsuspecting users.

ISACA is an international professional association focused on IT governance. According to ISACA, 60 percent of technology consumers believe their information is safe while using public WiFi and are completely unaware of existential risks they are exposed to.

“As we go on, the free WiFi is a very amazing programme, because the focus is on digital economy,but right now, the public is not aware of obvious cyber risks, are we securing those WiFi hotspots for the public, we need the government to secure and put measures top conduct awareness,” said Waiyuro.

Dangers inherent in free hotspots include malware and phishing attacks among others and have been on a sharp rise in recent years as the country’s online commerce takes an upward trajectory.

Waiyuro said the biggest challenges include lack of awareness to the public about cyber security. The professional body has over 1,300 memberships and targets to rope in more members as it targets to spur digital economy through governance.

“We have seen there is a lot of digital transformation ongoing, the government is committed to have digital capabilities, free WiFi spots, ICT hubs countrywide, more fiber cable, but as we do that are we doing in it considering security data protection,statistically there is increased cases of cyber attacks,” said Muiyuro.

ISACA vice president Mercy Omolo said the digital trust is working round the clock to bring onboard more Kenyans into the digital scope and ensure Kenyans that are not digital survey are captured in collaboration with the public sector.

“In terms of managing cyber crimes Kenya has made major strides, we are leading in the region, although we have challenges, awareness to the public, and the collaboration between the public and private sector trying to bridge that gap,” said Omolo.

She said literacy gap is shrinking by the day owing to different interventions. “The digital literacy gap is about 40 percent but there is room for growth if the ministry of ICT and other partners focus on ICT Agendas,” said Omolo.