Stakeholders Call For Concerted Efforts To Tame Cybercrime

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 17- Stakeholders from both the public and private sectors have called for a concerted effort in the fight against cyber crimes to create a conducive online space.

Speaking during a cyber-security symposium that was organized and conducted online by Kenya School of Government in partnership with Serianu, a pan-african cyber-security firm based in Nairobi on Thursday, the Head of National Cyber Command Centre (NC4) Colonel Evans Ombati said that cyber security criminals are same hence need for collaboration to stop them in their tracks.

“We are in a dynamic environment both how we do things and the security issues but the bottom line is actors are the same. I emphasise that whether through phishing, fraud, impersonation that is malicious. In my quest to look for a stable and peaceful environment in cyber space and the physical world we must eradicate cyber-crimes perpetrators,” said Col. Ombati.

He revealed that with the current technology, it is easy to find cyber security criminals through their communication.

Col.Ombati noted that they are working round the clock to combat cyber-crimes by employing modern cyber security infrastructure.

“We are trying to bring on measures like detection capability at all points of control. With this, we shall have statistics that will be available to Kenyans and they will be authenticated,” revealed Col. Ombati.

He further said, they would work closely with universities to address challenges that Kenyans face, for instance sim swapping that had been on rise recently.

“In our strategic plan, we want to spearhead an engagement where universities can be tasked to address various challenges on cyber security,” he said.

NC4 boss decried that the Kenyans had lost trust in the penal system especially on computer misuses and cybercrime act where he noted, the law is not punitive enough, especially in imposing penalties on those who commit online money laundering crimes.

He also warned Kenyans against relying on global cyber security information which he termed can sometimes be misleading.

Information Communication Authority (ICT) Deputy Director in charge of Information Security Philip Irode said that there was a need for all public servants to be inducted on cyber security.

At least 200 participants took part in the webinar cyber security symposium where they were sensitised on evolving cyber security threats, creating an enabling environment for critical infrastructure security, developing proficiency in cyber resilience and providing human capacity for cyber security.

The moderators noted sim swap, social engineering attacks that involve manipulating online users to give out their sensitive information, stealing of individuals’ card bank identification numbers and phishing are the most common cyber-attacks in the country.