By Dan Muhuni
EFFORTS to transform Kenya into an ICT hub in the widely publicised 2030 Vision, after all may not be achieved. This is due to the fast growth of the little known cyber crimes.
Participants at an Information Communication Technology exhibition held at Kenyatta International Conference Centre two weeks ago revealed that cyber crimes, where those involved are hacking into networks, are now on the rise in the country.
These little known crimes are committed by people who expose corporate organisations’ networks to hackers by not using network security devices. The worst of it is that mostly hacking is done without the company’s consent and even without noticing the damage on its network.
The workshop further heard that, the IT criminals expose companies’ vital data to external people who either maliciously delete or alter the information.
Participants at the workshop questioned the government’s commitment to fight the emerging cyber crimes.
But the government’s reaction to these enquiries exposed its lack of commitment to fight this emerging felony. The Information and Communication Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo defended the crimes saying that, if those involved are doing it to benefit themselves.
Participants proposed that the Kenyan government should particularly come up with cyber security enhancement act which provides for severe penalties for computer crimes, which endanger human life or critical systems within the ICT infrastructure.
The note that the Bill should also include a provision for a maximum life sentence for anyone putting lives at risk by breaking into and altering computer systems, or through reckless misuse of a computer.
Cyber crimes are a growing battle in cyberspace that experts in the most developed countries are calling for increased attention on as cyber crimes are becoming so rampant.
It is due to the increased cyber crimes that have made corporate organisations increased Network security and legal measures to counteract this growing wave of criminal activity.
For instance the companies that have not given network security the seriousness it deserves by providing high-tech network equipments find themselves victims of hacking. And if it’s a banking institution, it finds itself losing money through hackers who gain access even into members’ bank accounts. The criminals use password crackers to access account passwords and eventually making illegal transactions without the institution realising.
Internet security statistics show that hacking activity on the Internet is growing at an alarming rate. It is now reported that globally it is sixty-four per cent per year.
There are also about 400 to 500 new viruses identified every month, with the major company networks being the most popular target, particularly financial service institutions.
In fact, the problem is growing at such a rate that there is an emergence of courses being offered to in some countries so they can identify vulnerabilities before being exposed to cyber crimes. Course participants are offered step-by-step procedures for executing Internet, intranet and host-level security reviews, as well as taught how to identify, exploit, and secure well-known, and little known, vulnerabilities found in system networks and software.
In Kenya for instance CISCO systems brought together all the ICT stakeholders for a network security one day training since they understands the implications of the network leakage.
Today it is the high time that data, voice and Internet services provider (ISPs) ideally launch Cyber Crime research centers in Kenya, aimed at protecting consumers and Internet networks from security violations, the Internet and indeed create an assurance security center labs in response to the rising tide of Internet security violations, such as viruses, worms and denial of service attacks.
The blame for cyber crimes is not just linked to hostile forces, though, as company employees are also commonly being identified as the source, intentional or otherwise, of company security breaches.
The best way to prevent staff from being taken advantage of or divulging vital snippets of information is by training them to be vigilant in the face of an ever-increasing world of fraud and cyber-crime.
A trained staff member will choose uncommon passwords, be suspicious of unsolicited emails and will not give out confidential information of the company and with this hacking will drastically come to an end.
