THE END OF CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS MONTH 2016

Every October we celebrate Cyber Security Awareness Month by organising events aiming to raise awareness. This year, the fourth and final week of the Cyber Security Month was dedicated to Mobile Malware due to the fact that we increasingly depend on mobile devices and cybercriminals use this to their advantage, to get access to information and money, or to just do harm, while also developing a number of threats which are particularly designed to operate on mobile platforms.

•          Countries organised events aiming to raise Cybersecurity awareness
•          Over 140 million records were leaked
•          Fighting back Cyber criminals bear fruits in some countries.
•          Cybersecurity discussion was accommodated to many other events

A good number of events happened in October and Cybersecurity was among the key topic discussed during these events – I personally participated and took part in several events across Africa. I’ll discuss few among them as follows.

Future-Sat Africa in Ethiopia – among others we looked at the rapid growth of mobile usage and the fact that cybercrime is also rising faster here than anywhere else in the world. We strongly advised companies and countries to draw up their telecom threat map and devise appropriate response strategies. Categories of cybersecurity preparedness include legal, tech, organisation, capacity building, and cooperation.

UHALIFU MTANDAO UNATEGEMEWA KUKUA ZAIDI MAENEO MENGI

Takwimu za uhalifu mtandao zimeendelea kukua huku wana usalama mtandao wakiendelea kutafuta suluhu ya kudumu dhidi ya uhalifu mtandao maeneo mengi duniani. Hivi sasa tumefikia wakati wa kila tunavyotumia ku unganishwa kwenye mtandao (Internet of Things – IoT) ambapo Televisheni, Friji , Majiko, Magari na kadhalika vimekua vikiunganishwa mtandaoni ili kurahisisha maisha ya watumiaji.

Hali hii imepelekea wimbi kubwa la uhalifu mtandao kuendelea kukua na imetabiriwa kadri muda unavyoendelea tishio la uhalifu mtandao litakua kubwa zaidi – Kuliangalia hili Mkutano wa wana TEHAMA wa Nchi za Afrika (AfICTA) wa mwaka huu 2016 ambao uliofanyika jijini Windhoek Nchini Namibia ulipata kujadili mengi kuhusiana na hili ambapo pande mbili za faida na changamoto ziliangaziwa kwa karibu.

Binafsi, Nilipata kushiriki kuongoza mijadala miwili ambapo tuliangazia changamoto za ukuaji wa uhalifu mtandao kutokana na wimbi wa vitu vingi kuendelea kuunganishwa mtandaoni na pia kujadili mapendekezo ya mambo ya msingi ya kuzingatia ili kubaki salama pamoja na mambo ya msingi kwa wadhibiti wa uhalifu mtandao wanayopaswa kuzingatia ili kuweza kudhibiti hali hii.

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HABARI NJEMA: Nimeteuliwa kua Mjumbe wa bodi ya wana TEHAMA wa Nchi za Afrika (AfICTA) ambapo nitaungana na wajumbe wengine kusukuma gurudumu la TEHAMA katika Nchi za Afrika na Dunia Kwa Ujumla – Kujua zaidi kuhusiana na wajumbe wote wa Bodi Unaweza kusoma kwa “KUBOFYA HAPA”

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Mjadala ulisistiza ya kua wahalifu mtandao hawapaswi kutuzidi nguvu na kuturudisha nyuma ila kinacho paswa ni kujipanga zaidi kwa kuwekeza katika ulinzi mtandao ili kulinda wimbi la vifaa vinavyoendelea kuunganishwa mtandaoni dhidi ya wahalifu mtandao.

MORE SHOULD BE DONE TO COMBAT CYBERATTACKS

Cyber-attacks on financial services institutions are becoming increasingly sophisticated and frequent. By using stolen legitimate credentials and malware to disguise criminal activity, these breaches can remain undetected for some time, making the financial impact irreparable.

Sadly, professionals in the financial services sector are well aware and the attacks keep rising up. The Financial Services Edition of the 2016 Vormetric Data Threat Report, which surveyed 1,100 senior IT security executives at large enterprises around the world. The report found that 90 percent (90%) of respondents feel vulnerable to data threats, and 44 percent (44%) have already experienced a data breach – with nearly one in five i.e. 19 percent (19%) indicating they had experienced a breach in the last year.

This just goes to prove the sentiment, ‘it’s not if you will get hacked, but when’. To which we can add, ‘and how quickly you learn about it’.

Where should financial services IT teams start in better defending their networks?

From sports fields to battlefields, there’s an adage that has been used for centuries that states ‘the best defense is a good offense’. The idea behind this theory is that having a proactive offensive attitude – rather than a reactive defensive posture – is the best way to keep the opposition occupied and limit their ability to conduct an attack.

UWEKEZAJI SEKTA YA TEHAMA UANGAZIE USALAMA MTANDAO

Mataifa mbali mbali yame endelea kuwekeza katika sekta ya TEHAMA ikiwa ni katika jitihada za kurahisisha upatikanaji wa mawasiliano kwa wanchi wake pamoja na kukuza ufanisi katika utendaji kupitia utumiaji wa mifumo ya Digitali/Tehama.

Teknolojia ya Setilaiti imeongeza chachu kwenye hili na kwa kuliangalia hili Jijini Addis Ababa Nchini Ethiopia mkutano wa kwanza kwa nchi za Africa wenye kauli mbiu “Digital Skies – Everyone connected”  ulipata kujadili kwa kirefu maswala mbali mbali yahusuyo TEHAMA ambapo Viongozi mbali mbali na wataalam katika nyanja hii walipata kuwasilisha mada na kushiriki katika mijadala mbali mbali.

Waziri wa TEHAMA wa Nchi ya Somalia Mh. Jamal Hassan alikua ni mingoni mwa walio zungumza, ambapo ali ainisha TEHAMA inavyo endelea kukua kwa kasi nzuri katika taifa lake.

Mwanzo wa kuwasilisha mada yake alianza kwa kusema, Somalia imekua na umaarufu mkubwa katika maswala ya ugaidi, Lakini Nchi imepiga hatua nzuri katika kuwekeza katika sekta ya TEHAMA.

Akifafanua alieleza taifa lake (Somalia) linatumia huduma ya fedha mtandao na fedha kupitia simu ambapo wafanyakazi wake wana endelea kulipwa kupitia simu za mkononi. Aidha, Aliainisha mifumo mbali mbali imeendelea kuwa ya kidigitali ili kuhakiki ufanisi unakua.

Aliongeza kwa kusema wananchi wa taifa hilo wameendelea kua na matumizi makubwa ya mitandao ikiwepo mitandao ya kijamii inayo rahisisha mawasiliano baina yao. Alizungumza pia mpango wa Nchi yake kupata huduma ya Mkonge ambao alisema utatokea Dar-es salaam hadi Nchini mwake.