East Africa IT Conference Concludes on efforts to guarantee Cloud Security

The 8th ISACA, three days East Africa Information Security Conference concluded last Friday at Speke Resort Munyonyo, in Kampala, Uganda with a call on IT users to embrace Cloud Security, to curb Cyber attacks in Organizations.

John Paul Onyango, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd Territory Manager, for Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia, while making a presentation on; Cloud Computing and Security, said; 76 per cent of Organizations experience Cyber attacks worldwide. He called for a new approach on authentication of IT hardware to curb Cyber attacks.

“About 67 per cent of enterprises have moved to the Cloud but have not moved to aspect of security”, he said. He likened Cloud technology as a Boarding School, where management will only offer security to the School property, but would not offer security to students being bullied at the School. “Check point is here to offer security to stop bullying in schools”, he said.

He pointed out that; security in the Cloud is up to the Customer, to subscribe with Check Point and not the Cloud provide, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Oracle among others.

John Patrick, a partner with Check Point Software Technologies, attributed majority Cyber attacks to passwords. He said there is need for password re-set on regular basis to minimize the vice of Cyber attacks. Support around IT Services is very important.

“About Six million USD is spend on password re-set by organizations annually”, he said. He said Cloud security, also known as cloud computing security, consists of a set of policies, controls, procedures and technologies that work together to protect cloud-based systems, data and infrastructure.

“These security measures are configured to protect data, support regulatory compliance and protect customers’ privacy as well as setting authentication rules for individual users and devices. From authenticating access to filtering traffic, cloud security can be configured to the exact needs of the business”, he added.

asked to explain the importance of Cloud Security, during Panel discussions, JP Onyango said: “For businesses making the transition to the cloud, robust cloud security is imperative. Security threats are constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated, and cloud computing is no less at risk than an on-premise environment. For this reason, it is essential to work with a cloud provider that offers best-in-class security that has been customized for your infrastructure”.

In his Conclusion remarks, ISACA Kampala Chapter President, Herculs Bizure , said a digital world breach is now more catastrophic and there is need to do more to sense, detect and defend digital assets.

“As ISACA Kampala, we continue building capacity through certification exam preparation classes and boot camps. We are also seeing a growing demand beyond certification, employers and stakeholders are looking for Cyber competencies”, he added.

He pointed out that; ISACA introduced the Cyber Security Nexus- CXS Certificates and CXS-P Certification, which help individuals demonstrate their skills and prove that they know the most current Cyber security standards, to offer employers confidence that their employees are up to the demand tasks.