#AfrSS2017: Africa Security Summit kicks off in Nairobi Kenya

CIO East Africa second Africa Security Summit has kicked off today in Nairobi Kenya.

Now in its second year, The Africa Security Summit seeks to help C-level executives on the continent better understand the true threats and what is required to address them and how effective, efficient solutions deliver competitive advantages.

Last year, the event was held in Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania and saw over 100 IT Professionals from across Africa attend. The summit is part of CIO East Africa continental events that focus on digital disruption technologies including big data, cloud and the Internet of Things.

“We continue to thank all those of you who keep supporting us by attending our events. The reason why we hold these events is to broaden your knowledge on Security. Let you experience latest innovation as well as expand your connections, ” said Laura Chite CEO CIO East Africa

Through a unique blend of focused Executive Visions panel discussions, analyst sessions, visionary Keynote presentations and networking breaks, technology executives will also get a chance to share insights and gain critical takeaways about the most critical issue they face, Security.

She further added, “This year six key network and IT Security trends are expected. Malware will continue to evolve, IoT complexity will lead to security issues and further DDoS attacks, Applying AI and machine learning to security, SDN rises from the trough of disillusionment and SD WAN will take off, cloud security will become increasingly important and finally, IPv6 traffic will continue to double.”

This year The Africa Summit will also explore the dangers facing organizations based on three key pillars Cyber Security, Content and Data Privacy and Governance, Risk and compliance.

Every year, organizations pour billions of dollars into information security. And like clockwork, every year hackers find new ways to access and steal sensitive data. Businesses face major information security threats.

Frightening ranges of malign forces are pitched against them, and they have many harmful motives – fraud, personal identity theft, intellectual property theft, industrial espionage, service disruption, physical damage, blackmail and more.

The event comes at a time when Cybersecurity Ventures predict global spending on cybersecurity products and services to exceed $1 trillion cumulatively over the next five years, from 2017 to 2021.

In 2004, the global cybersecurity market was worth $3.5 billion and in 2017 it is expected to be worth more than $120 billion growing by roughly 35X over 13 years. Indeed, the market for stolen credit cards alone is worth of US$100 billion, handily outstripping the entire global cocaine market.