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#AfrSS2017: Cybercrime activities in Kenya pickup during election time
Kenya’s cybercrime threat landscape changes at different times of the year. One of the most popular time of year for…
Kenya’s cybercrime threat landscape changes at different times of the year. One of the most popular time of year for increased cyber-criminal activities affecting the country is during its election time.
This was said by Mr. Robert Mugo, CEO, ICT Authority, during a press briefing at the second annual Africa Security Summit held at the Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.
“Threat landscape changes depending on different times of the year. Especially now when we have elections coming up, we tend to see a lot of spike in activities in terms of cybercrime,” said Mr. Mugo.
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With Kenya’s election day just around the corner, set to be on the 8th of August 2017, Mr. Mugo noted that the government is taking actions to limit such interruptions by malicious people in the form of heavy investment aimed towards updating and upgrading the government’s cyber security systems.
“With Government digitizing all its systems, we have realized there is an increase in cyber related crimes targeting Government agencies. The Government currently has a plan underway to invest close to USD 50 million to help secure its systems.” Added Mr. Mugo.
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.
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Last year, the event was held in Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania and saw over 180 IT Professionals from across East 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.
“The Africa Security Summit has created an opportunity for participants to achieve 3 things: Broaden their industry knowledge, Experience latest innovations & expand their 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 shared insights and gained critical takeaways about the most critical issue they face, Security.
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She added, “IT Security has become a big concern in Africa today and it is important that we address this as a critical business issue and not just leave it to Technology experts. 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.”
The Africa Summit also explored 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.
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.