Cybersecurity
The Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) has committed to double its collective efforts to increase consumer awareness of cyber safety measures and ensure that all stakeholders have the right information skills to stay safe online.
To this effect, CA held the 2024 Africa Regional Cyber Sector Collaboration Symposium whose aim is to address emerging challenges and opportunities within the African cybersecurity and its digitalization agenda. Speaking during the Symposium on Friday, CA Director General (DG) David Mugonyi said that the symposium aims to prioritize and enhance cybersecurity measures in every sphere of the people’s lives.
Mugonyi emphasized that their priorities and objectives include human-driven innovation, empowering minds, and enhancing defenses initiatives which will lead to empowerment of Africa’s digital community through enhanced online security.
“This symposium is a platform for sharing, exploring, expanding, enhancing collaboration and teamwork in cybersecurity and enabling creation of trust networks with most developing countries -including Kenya- which have a technical deficit thus hampering analysis, prevention, detection, and prosecution of cybercrimes,” he stated.
Mugonyi noted that Cybersecurity is primarily a human issue hence the partnership with the United States of America (USA) has raised the technical capacity of the people both in Kenya and abroad. “Data shows that 95 percent of all online breaches are caused by human error and poor cyber hygiene,” he said, adding that increase of awareness and change of behavior are crucial parts of enhancing collective cybersecurity resilience.
The DG stated that the human progress demands have led to increased vigilance and industrial revolution, creating a global concern for environment and the management of planet resources as well as digital progress that demands consistent global efforts to secure the digital realm. “This calls for strategic, technical, legal, policy, and security capabilities that transcend the sectors and borders. Africa must build these capabilities quickly and decisively,” he stated.
Mugonyi noted the country has enacted various laws which aim to facilitate the detection, protection, and response to cyber threats. “As a nation we have highly trained personnel and a set of art systems that facilitate cyber threat detection, prevention, threat analysis, and incident response,” said Mugonyi.
The DG noted that between April and June 2024, they detected 1.1 billion cyber threats which targeted Kenyan assets. “Last year, a cybersecurity report by a consulting firm estimated that Nigeria suffered losses of approximately US$3.3 million in 2023 while the average data breach in Kenya was approximately US$4.35 million,” he said.
The U.S. State Department’s Director of the Office of International Engagement and Capacity Building Joanna LaHaie said that cybersecurity is not a challenge of any one single nation but it is a cross-border issue. “The spirit of partnership is crucial, and it highlights a fundamental truth. We must embrace collaboration and information sharing and build our collective resilience,” she emphasized, adding that it is the only way to create a stronger and more resilient network of defense.
LaHaie added that the United States is committed to digital solidarity since it is the premise that organizations or nations work together to shape the international digital ecosystem that is rights-respecting and innovative and improve global cybersecurity and capacity.