TU UFUNGE MWAKA KWA KUJIHADHARI NA UHALIFU MTANDAO

Mwaka 2014 Umekua Wenye changamoto nyingi sana kwenye upade wa mitandao ambapo wahalifu mtandao walifanikiwa kwa kiasi kikubwa sana kuitikisa anga ya usalama mitandao duniani kote ambapo walifikia kutamba kuwa wameshinda mapambano na wanausalama mitandao.

Kubwa zaidi ni uelewa mdogo wa watumiaji mtandao juu ya kujiweka salama kimtandao iliyo ambatana na wana usalama mitandao kuwa wachache sana katika ngazi ya kidunia huku baadhi ya mataifa kutotoa kipaumbele katika maswala ya usalama mitandao.

Aidha, Mengi katika jitihada yameweza kufikiwa ikiwa ni pamoja na Kikao cha funga mwaka cha tathmini ya hali ilivyokuwa kwa mwaka 2014 ambapo iliweza kutabiri hali ya uhalifu mwaka 2015 na kuweka mikakati ya dhati ya kukabiliana na hali hiyo kwa mwaka 2015 inayotegemewa kuwa na matokeo chanya. Kwenye hili unaweza kulisoma kwenye  “TAARIFA FUPI INAYOSOMEKA HAPA"

Wamarekani nao kupitia “US department of Justice” wameamua kuazisha kitengo maalum kitakachotoa msaada kwa mataifa yote duniani katika upande wa maswala ya usalama mitandao ikisisitiza itaangazia zaidi katika kuzuia matatizo kabla hayajatokea.

Tanzania nayo haikubaki nyumba kwenye hili, Tumeshuhudia warsha, semina, kongamano na mikutano mingine yenye malengo thabiti ya kukuza na kuongezea uwezo wa uelewa wa matumizi salama ya mitandao paoja kukuza uwezo wa kukabiliana na hali ya uhalifu mtandao nchini.

CYBERSECURITY SCHOLARSHIPS TO BE OFFERED BY RIT

There has been a very high demand of cybersecurity professionals worldwide. Countries are encouraged to train more people in the field of cybersecurity. In Africa there are several initiatives on capacity building that includes Crash programs, Workshops and in some countries security courses have been introduced to the curriculum.

The United States: In response to a growing national demand for cybersecurity workers, “ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY" has planned to use a $4 million federal grant to establish a new scholarship program.

“THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION" funding will provide tuition and a stipend to students in exchange for government service. RIT expects to offer the first scholarships in the fall 2015 semester.

A total of 21 scholarships will be awarded to students.

The program will be open to RIT undergraduates entering their third or fourth year in “COMPUTING SECURITY", computer science or software engineering, and will cover the final three years of a combined bachelor's and master's of science degree in computing security.

"Our degree is somewhat unique in that it does focus explicitly on computing security and it takes a very interdisciplinary perspective," said Andrew Sears, dean of RIT's B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences.

The scholarships, which will be awarded by a faculty committee, cover tuition, books and professional development, plus a cash stipend of $20,000 a year for undergraduates and $32,000 a year for graduate students. The total value of the scholarships will be between $50,000 and $60,000 a year.

DIT YAFANYA SEMINA ELEKEZI YA UFAHAMU WA MASWALA YA USALAMA MTANDAO

Swala la kukuza uelewa wa matumizi mtandao salama maarufu kama  “Cybersecurity Awareness programs” imekua iki himizwa sana kwani uhalifu mtandao unaweza kupunguzwa kwa kiasi kikubwa sana pale watumiaji watakapo pata ufahamu wa kina wa matumizi salama wa mitandao.

Swala hili limekua liki imizwa sana na mataifa mbali mbali ili kuhakiki matumizi salama ya mitandao yanakuwepo na hatimae kupunguza wimbi kubwa la uhalifu mtandao unao endelea kukua hivi sasa. Katika kuonyesha umuhimu wa swala hili Mwezi Wa Kumi umekua ukitumika kama mwezi maalum wa kukuza uelewa wa matumizi salama katika mataifa mengi. Kujua zaidi katika Hili Fatilia Taarifa inayoweza kusomeka "HAPA" 

Kwa kutambua umuhimu Huo Chuo cha Teknolojia cha Dar-es-salaam (DIT) kiliandaa semina maalum ambapo wanafunzi wa vyuo mbali mbali waliweza kualikwa kuhudhuria semina hiyo ambayo ilikua na lengo la kukuza uelewa wa matumizi salama ya mitandao.

Washiriki ambao walikua ni kundi kubwa la vijana, ambao pia wanachukua idadi kubwa ya watumiaji mitandao nchini waliweza kupata elimu hiyo ambapo nili iwasilisha kwa kufafanua mambo mbali mbali kuanzia uelewa wa nini hasa maana ya usalama mitandao, uhusiano wa matawi mbali mbali yahusuyo usalama mitandao na athari za uhalifu mtandao hadi sasa katika ngazi ya Dunia.

Aidha, niliangazia Hali ilivyo katika bara La Afrika na Juhudi mbali mbali zinazoendelea ili kuweka Bara salama. Huku niki eleza namna mbali mbali wanavyoweza kujilinda na kuwalinda wengine na uhalifu mtandao.

Maangalizo mbali mbali ambayo yanaweza kupelekea kuweza  kuwatenganisha watu wema wanaofanya uhalifu mtandao bila kukusudia na wahalifu halisi wa mitandao niliweza kufafanua.

LARGE-SCALE CYBER ESPIONAGE CAMPAIGN TARGETS RUSSIA

In one of my recent "ARTICLE" I raised my concern on the rise of cyber warfare not only between big countries or companies but also small companies and countries. With the new prediction stating 2015 there will be a big number of cyber espionage – We should expect African continent to be the most affected because of luck of readiness to combat cyber-attacks.

With recent report from Kaspersky Lab, Russian companies in oil, finance, military, and other sectors – as well as the country’s embassies abroad – have become the primary targets of a new espionage campaign, labeled ‘Cloud Atlas’ by global information security powerhouse Kaspersky Lab.

Enterprises in Belarus and Kazakhstan – which are Russia’s partners in the Eurasian Custom Union – are also affected. Another major target of the campaign is India, the Moscow-based company said.

According to Kaspersky Lab, Cloud Atlas infects corporate computers via RTF (Rich Text Format) files attached to emails.

Those behind the campaign have also launched attacks using MMS and SMS messages to infect Android, BlackBerry, and iOS devices.

Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research & Analysis Team believes Cloud Atlas is most likely a successor to the so-called ‘Red October’ espionage campaign.

“Both Red October and Cloud Atlas, according to our data, are focused on the abduction of information from the organizations located in Eastern Europe,” Igor Sumenkov, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, told Sputnik news agency.

"Geographic location and occupation of victims of Cloud Atlas and Red October are similar. Moreover, among the targets of Cloud Atlas there is at least one organization that has been previously attacked by Red October," he explained.

The Red October cyber espionage campaign was discovered by Kaspersky Lab in October 2012 and defeated in January 2013. For five years, the malware stole information from various organizations around the world, mostly in Russia.

MCAFEE YASEMA VITA NA UJASUSI MTANDAO UTAONGEZEKA ZAIDI MWAKA 2015

Kumekua na wimbi kubwa la uhalifu mtandao unaofanywa na mhalifu kwa lengo la kujipatia fedha, taarifa na mambo mengine katika maeneo mbali mbali duniani. Katika mfululizo wa vipindi mbali mbali vinavyo weza kusikika "HAPA" nimeweza kueleza hali halisi huku kesho ya uhalifu mtandao kama ilivyo tabiriwa kupata kuangaziwa macho kwa karibu.

Kwa sasa kumeendelea kukua kwa uhalifu unao ihusisha nchi moja dhidi ya nyingine au kampuni moja dhidi ya nyingine yenye malengo ya kupata taarifa za ndani na wakati mwingine kwa nia ya kuangusha tu mifumo ya nchi/ kampuni nyingine kwa sababu mbali mbali.

Kupitia ripoti ya McAfee iliyo chambuliwa "HAPA" imetabiri aina hii ya uhalifu kati ya nchi na nchi au kampuni na kampuni kuongeza kasi zaidi mwaka wa 2015. Hili limeambatana na kitu kipya kilicho tambulishwa kama “Cybercrime –as – service” ambapo uhalifu mtandao utakua unatumiwa kama huduma. Haya yanategemea kuiweka dunia katika hali mbaya zaidi kimtandao.

Hadi sasa Tayari mataifa makubwa yame endelea na vita mitandao ambapo kumekua na taarifa mbali mbali ambazo zimeonyesha vita hivyo mitandao zinavyo athiri mataifa hayo makubwa.

Mifano michache ni pamoja na kuibiwa kwa taarifa za mitambo ya kivita ambapo imekua ikipelekea mitambo hiyo kudhibitiwa mifumo yake na kusababisha kuleta athari. Nilipata kuliangazia hili katika taarifa inayosomeka "HAPA"  Aidha, taarifa za siri zenye athari kiuchumi zimekua zikilengwa katika vita hivi mtandao. Wakati mwwingine kuingilia tu mifumo na kuisimamisha kufanya kazi.

77 CHINESE NATIONALS ARRESTED IN KENYA FOR CYBERCRIMES

When I spoke about the need to have cyber laws in place, I clearly mentioned that Africa is the next target – meaning either it can be used as back door for the cybercriminals to attack other developed nations or to make use of the growing technology in the continent for them to obtain easy money.

 Shortly after my report, "BBC REPORTED" an incident happened in Kenya where by Kenyan police say they have cracked a cybercrime Centre run by 77 Chinese nationals from upmarket homes in the capital, Nairobi. Police believe they were involved in hacking and money laundering.

China has promised to fully cooperate with Kenya after police arrested 77 Chinese nationals thought to be running a cybercrime center in the country’s capital, Nairobi.

The arrests, 37 of which occurred last Sunday and a further 40 on Wednesday were sparked by a fire on Sunday at a home in in Nairobi in which one person died.

Police investigating the cause of the fire attributed it to a faulty server and a number of raids then took place on upmarket houses rented by the Chinese nationals. During these raids they found vast amounts of high-tech equipment including telephone headsets, computers linked to high-speed internet and monitors.

According to local police, it is thought that the gangs were “preparing to raid the country’s communication systems”.

Speaking to Kenya’s privately owned Standard newspaper, director of Kenya's Criminal Investigations Department, Ndegwa Muhoro said: “Preliminary findings show the fire was caused by one of the servers they were illegally operating”.

Whilst they have allegedly been charged for being in the country illegally and operating radio equipment without the necessary permits, local police have said that the group also appeared to be manufacturing ATM cards, and may have been involved in money laundering and Internet fraud.

KILICHOTOKEA JANA KUHUSIANA NA HABARI ZILIZO IHUSU BENKI YA NBC

Nianze kuliandikia hili kwa kuonyesha furaha yangu kuwa huwenda sasa kumekua na uelewa juu ya maswala ya usalama mitandao. Nalisema hili kutokana na uhalisia kwamba Jana nilipata maswali kutoka kwa watu wengi sana huku nikipata jumbe nyingi zilizofanana zikielezea juu ya tukio la benk ya NBC kuingiliwa na wadukuzi.

Wengi walinitaka pia nielezee huku nikiulizwa mbona hakuna nilichozungumza. Nilifarijika sana kwani muda uliopita wengi hawakua wakihoji juu ya maswala ya udukuzi pamoja na usalama mitandao na huwenda hii ilitokana na kutokua na uelewa wa maswala husika.

NINI HASA KILITOKEA?

Kwanza kabisa Kulikua na Itlafu ya Umeme ambayo ilisababisha baadhi ya Mashine kuzima.

Pili, Kulitokea Tahadhari ya Moto iliyosababisha wafanyakazi kuchuukua tahadhari ya kutoka nje.

Na Tatu, Mifumo ya Mobile banking (Inayotoa huduma za miamala kupitia simu za kiganjani) kushindwa kufanya kazi yake ipasavyo iliyo sababisha kutoa kiwango kisicho sawa kwa waliokua wakiangalia salio.

Matukio haya matatu yaliunganishwa na kutengeneza taarifa moja iliyo sambazwa kua kuna mdukuzi aliingilia banki ya NBC na kusababisha mifumo kutofanya kazi na hatimae kuhamisha kiasi kikubwa  cha pesa. Kitu ambapo kilipelekea wafanya kazi kutoka nje ili uchunguzi zaidi uweze kufanywa.

Na anaepata taarifa anapo angalia salio anaona kunatatizo katika kiasi chake na kuamini jumbe ile. Panapotoka ufafanuzi wa taarifa hii wengi bado wanahoji bado kuna shaka niendelee kutoa ufafanuzi nini hasa kinaweza kikawa kimesababisha?

NINI KINAWEZA KUWA TATIZO?

Wengi wanaweza kuhusisha matukio mawili ya mifumo kuzimika na mifumo ya Mobile money kutofanya kazi (Kuzidiwa nguvu) na kutoa taarifa zisizo sahihi na kinacho julikana kama "DDOS ATTACKS" ambapo pia ni uhalifu mtandao unaoweza kusababisha tukio la mifumo kuzima na kuzidiwa kufanya kazi.