Quality concerns as h*****s infiltrate Kebs systems
Consumers are likely to be exposed to harmful products after systems at the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) were hacked, rendering it ineffective in testing and inspecting all goods.
Hackers are said to have infiltrated Kebs network three weeks ago, paralysing all its operations including payment, operations, human resource and internal mail system.
The hacking has rekindled the debate over the security of Kenya’s public digital infrastructure against cyber crime.
Sources at Kebs say while the government agency has lost thousands of millions of shillings in revenue as a result of the hacking, the authorities have remained mute save for a public notice they issued two weeks ago.
The hacking has affected important services such as Kebs Information Management System (KIMS), Permits issuance, Webstore and Catalog used for standard purchase and the Laboratory Information Management System (Lims), a software that allows the effective management of samples and data.
Other key services paralysed include sample test results, motor vehicle inspection details, Metlims Customer portal and Pre-Export Verification of Conformity (PVOC).
“In short, Kebs is not offering the services it is mandated to offer. We have also lost millions of shillings since the system was hacked,” a senior Kebs official who declined to be quoted due to the sensitivity of the matter told People Daily.
Kebs official in charge of communications Zeyana Abdullah said they had issued a public notice to alert members of the public about the inconvenience.
“We shared a public notice on the official position, which I will also share with you. Our technical team is working round the clock to rectify the problem,” Abdullah said.
In the public notice published by Kebs on its website two weeks ago, the parastatal asked its clients to remain patient as their “customer support team worked round the clock to restore the system.”
“We wish to notify our stakeholders and the public that we are experiencing temporary technical challenges with KIMs system. Our technical team is working round the clock to ensure the system is restored as soon as possible,” the notice read in part.
Kebs’ mandate include provision of facilities for examination and testing commodities manufactured in Kenya; testing of goods destined for exports for purposes of certification and preparation, framing or amendments to specification and codes of practice.
