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| Photo: IDG Connect |
A report by Deloitte named Technology, Media and Telecommunications Predictions 2017, ranked Kenya as one of the most vulnerable countries worldwide in terms of cyber security. Kenya has a current internet penetration of 85.3 percent, one of the highest in Africa.
The report showed companies and government organisations in Kenya lost a record of US$171 million through cybercrime in 2016 and this is expected to rise by 30 percent by the end of 2017.
Moreover, Kaspersky has ranked Kenya among the countries that are in risk of new threats such as hidden malware. The security company described “invisible” targeted attacks as ones that hide malware in memory and not in the hard drives.
Banks, financial institutions, telecom companies and government institutions are the main focus for these hidden attacks. According to Kaspersky, eight Kenyan enterprises have already been hit, making it fourth most at risk worldwide.
The Kenyan government has also lost a lot of money through insider vulnerabilities in its Integrated Finance Management Information System (IFMIS). Billions of shillings have been fraudulently lost leading to recommendations that the system must be overhauled.
Kenya is a victim of global cybersecurity threats, both within organisations and outside. And according to Riaan Badenhorst, Managing Director at Kaspersky Lab Africa, the increase in internet penetration throughout the country is opening doors for new users and also for attackers...
The need for business threat intelligence
Threat intelligence refers to the gathering of cyber knowledge in any given industry. It can be represented by industry specific threat feeds.
Threat Intelligence helps companies prepare for the coming trends. Unfortunately, not many companies and government bodies in Kenya have embraced this yet.
“Threat intelligence firstly comes down to awareness. If companies, organisations and consumers aren’t aware of the possible threats they are more at risk,” Badenhorst explains.
For example, more people are aware of software such as antivirus for their personal computers but they are not aware of dangers with their mobile devices.
“They don’t believe they need security for their mobile devices. [Yet] the number of threats targeting the mobile devices is increasing,” he says.
Kenya is mostly mobile first. This has led many employees to use their smartphones to access company digital assets, unaware of the new threats. Dangers such as ransomware are becoming a phenomenon that could endanger the progress of companies on the continent.
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Source: IDG Connect
