By Fredrick Obura

The Internet could be the coolest thing to come after the fixed telephone but it is proving something of a jungle, with hackers and other cyber criminals stealing identities, money or disabling computers.

Cybercrime cases are on the increase – and today’s attacks are often silent, hard to detect and highly targeted. Now cyber-criminals are using social networking sites to tailor their attacks, and phishing emails are becoming difficult to distinguish from the real thing. Analysts say hacking is expected to grow as more businesses go online with the arrival of fibre optic Internet.

The advent of high-speed connectivity has started to draw the attention of international hackers who were previously put off by the amount of time it took to break into local websites using slower satellite connections. And what worsens the situation is that the next frontier for the ‘online crooks’ is the mobile device, online social networks, and gaming platforms.

With Kenya now having four undersea fibre optic cables that has catapult the country as a technology hub in the region, however, this has come with challenges. Businesses are exposed more to high risks of cyber-attack. Kaspersky Lab, a security solutions provider says with higher penetration of ICT in Kenya, enterprises and individuals are turning to technology for money transfer and online-based transactions.

Malicious programmes

However, this coupled with reluctance in using genuine software makes Kenya more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Kenya falls in the moderate risk category with 25.1 per cent, placing them at number 88 of all the countries for serious risks of infection via the Internet. In terms of local infections in Kenya, Kaspersky Lab products detected malicious programmes on 49 out of every 100 computers – certainly a worrying statistic!

“The Kenyan market is one that we have been watching closely, as the region has continued to develop from an infrastructure point of view,” says Bethwel Opil Channel Sales Manager for East Africa at Kaspersky Lab.

In fact, Internet usage in Kenya has grown rapidly over the last few years, which has been due to increased use and demand for mobile devices, as the country embraces the mobile trend.

According to the recent Internet usage report from the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), there were an estimated 17.38 million Internet users in Kenya in December 2011. This represents a 95.63 per cent increase from 8.8 million users reported in 2010.

“As broadband infrastructure in the region continues to evolve, the opportunity for cybercriminal activity increases. As more people move towards a digital way of life, cybercriminals see the opportunity to exploit this for their own gain. It is for this very reason that we are passionate about creating awareness of IT security in the region, as well as being able to offer appropriate solutions to this market.”

According to Kaspersky Security Network statistics for the third quarter of 2012, Kenya is among the countries where users run the most serious risk of infection via the Internet. In order to assess a user’s infection risk in any given country, Kaspersky Lab calculates the frequency of web antivirus detections in different countries throughout the quarter. The countries are broken down into different risk groups — high risk, moderate risk and low risk. Kenya falls in the moderate risk category with 25.1 per cent, placing them at number 88 of all the countries for serious risks of infection via the Internet. In terms of local infections in Kenya, Kaspersky Lab products detected malicious programmes on 49 out of every 100 computers.

“It is evident from the above that cybercrime is rife in the country. We are passionate about our presence in Africa and through our local presence in Kenya, look forward to the impact that we can have on combating cybercrime in the region,” he said.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the 17th Annual Kenya ICT Pinnacle Awards. Various companies were feted in different categories.

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