Industry lobby group Telecommunications Service providers Associationof Kenya (TESPOK) has now called for increased Public Private partnerships in enhancing the course against growing cyber security issues. TESPOK Chairman Kris Senanu has said that the country is lagging behind other states in adopting a cybesecurity policy that would guide interactions between government and the private sector in addressing cyber security.
“The Internet is today a critical economic and social infrastructure. It is therefore expected of the telecommunicatons industry to ensure the security of the networks over which the public and business engage, irregardless of the technologies used to meet consumer services demand”, He said.
Speaking in Nairobi during the launch of the Annual National Cyber Security Report – 2014, Senanu who is also the Deputry Chief Executive Officer of AccessKenya Group urged for a serious approach by all stakeholders in developing a local policy framework on cyber security.
He said, through cyber security laws countries such as Japan, Sweden and the UK have allowed direct interaction between security agencies and the local internet communities through Internet exchange Points (IXPs).
The 2014 report themed ‘Rethinking Cybersecurity – ‘An Integrated Approach: Processes, Intelligence and Monitoring’, noted that in 2013 the number of cyber threat attacks detected in the Kenyan cyberspace grew by 108% to 5.4million attacks compared to 2.6 million attacks detected in 2012.
‘The fastest growing cyber-threat was anonymous proxy servers located in Kenya. In the period under review, we detected a total of 290,000 attacks originating from anonymous proxy servers compared to 50,000 similar attacks in 2012’, says the report in reference to the country’s Threat Landscape Analysis.
This is despite the fact that anonymous proxy servers – computer systems that allow users to access the internet without leaving a footprint – can be used by any cybercriminal to attack other users with little or no likelihood of detection.
The report available on tespoke website. Was developed by TESPOK in partnership with Serianu Limited and USIU-A Centre for Informatics Research and Innovation (CIRI), at the School of Science and Technology.
It comes at a time when Kenya is in the process of developing a policy framework intended to govern cybersecurity issues in the country.
According to Senanu TESPOK has already insitituted a technical team dedicated to monitoring the emerging issues around Cybersecurity in the country with a view to informing such a policy.
“Through partneships we seek to show that the battle against cyber-insecurity can be fought and won through the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders”, he said.
Currently TESPOK and Serianu Limited have implemented the CyberUsalama initiative intended to sensitize end users on current trends on cybersecurity, best practices and precautions to take when they go online.