Kenya Cyber Security Report 2015
Cyber Security Perspective from the Cyber
Security Sector
Evanson Ikua | Information Security Consultant
N
othing fascinates me more than
technology. While going through
my old trash when moving house
last year, I came across a few things that I
had forgotten still existed. One of them was
my High School ID card and the second was
my Postbank book. The latter reminded me
of my college days when I would bank my
boom and gradually withdraw the same as
needed. Every time I needed to deposit or
withdraw some money, I had to carry along
my savings book to the Bank and the teller
would record my transactions on that book
and also record my balance. Losing the book
meant a tedious process for the bank to go
into the ledgers to manually reconcile my
records.
That was in the early nineties. It still amazes
me that we could still arrange and keep
dates using telephone booths.
Fast forward to 2015. Today I do my
banking on my cellphone while watching
a documentary at home and pay my way
through life using the same cellphone. I
check my official e-mail on my cellphone
and play music in the car from my cellphone.
I chat with my clan, college friends,
neighbours and colleagues and exchange
information in real time from my cellphone.
Technology brings new opportunities to
tackle life and business challenges. But these
opportunities come at a cost and new risks.
These risks need to be managed effectively
while ensuring that we gain the maximum
benefit out of our technology investments,
while keeping our data safe. From savings
books to cloud computing and big data, the
Government has not been left behind.
The Government of Kenya computerisation
efforts of the last two decades are now
starting to have a direct impact on Wanjiku.
In line with cutting edge technology,
government systems are starting to integrate
and talk to each other. Early this year, I was
able to renew my driving license online
without having to leave my desk. I also
managed to renew my passport online and
only had to visit the Immigration Department
for them to take my current photo. This is a
great step forward for accessing government
services. It is a clear indication that the
Government is indeed serious with digital
service delivery. In this regard, the launch of
the e-citizen portal which brings together
multiple Government agencies in one pane
of glass is a huge step in the right direction.
This has been adequately complemented by
the Huduma Centres which are coming in
handy for those citizens who may not be very
digital savvy.
Since last year, The National Treasury
has been rolling out the e-Procurement
portal linked to the Integrated Financial
Information Management System (IFMIS),
through which all Government procurement
has been put online. E-procurement has
also been rolled out to County Governments,
Parastatals and public Universities. The
benefits of this to the tax payer are immense
in terms of the efficiency and accountability
that it brings. One of the biggest challenges
to this and other Government systems is
user acceptance, especially by Government
officers in some quarters who were used
to the old ways and other players who may
want to scuttle these efforts for their own
pecuniary gains.
The other challenge is security. While
implementing cyber security is a resource
intensive activity, organisations soon find
out that to not implement is even more
costly. The starting point of implementing
a cyber security program is situational
awareness. Currently, there is a criminal
investigation going on regarding an alleged
theft of public money at the National Youth
Service where about Ksh 700 million is
alleged to have been stolen by NYS officers in
collusion with Ministry officers and suppliers,
through the IFMIS system. The investigation
of this cyber crime will bring to the fore
the capacity situation for cyber crime and
computer forensics investigation in Kenya,
both at the investigating agencies and in
the judicial system. The IFMIS system in this
case will greatly help in terms of the inbuilt
application security mechanisms by way of
providing logs and an audit trail regarding
the transactions. Gone are the days of lost
files.
While many Government agencies have
rolled out world class systems to deliver
services to citizens, the current focus
is now on building capacity to manage
these solutions and also to increase the
capability maturity of these systems. Of
great importance in this regard will be
performance management so that the
Government can be able to clearly measure
progress against key performance indicators
in system implementation and integration, a
key component of IT Governance.
The ICT Authority is doing a commendable
job in this regard with their efforts to ensure
that standards are followed, drawing from
private sector skills and experience, as well
as fast tracking more advanced training to
develop a larger pool of IT Engineers with
requisite skills. One area they may need
to give closer consideration is the faster
adoption of shared services especially in the
area of Cyber Security to bridge the resource
gap.
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