Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo has raised alarm over the increased cybercrime attacks that is costing taxpayers billions of money, curtailing the growth of the economy.
He cited the recent attack on the online platforms belonging to key government institutions, rendering services inaccessible for about a half a day.
"Kenya has seen a surge in sophisticated cybercrimes, including financial fraud, ransomware, online child exploitation, disinformation, and attacks on e-governance platforms," he said.
He spoke on Tuesday in Nairobi during the third African Forum on Cybercrime and Electronic Evidence.
Among the sites that were targeted included president.co.ke, the official site of the presidency, and those belonging to ministries of Interior, Education, Labour, Health and Energy.
“Preliminary investigations indicate that the attack [is] suspected to have [been] carried out by a group identifying itself as "PCP@Kenya’,” said the government statement on November 17.
"In the regional context, these threats cost Africa in excess of Sh500 billion annually, weakening economies, eroding trust in digital systems, and exposing governments, businesses, and citizens to greater vulnerabilities," said the PS.
The last week's incident is not an isolated case as there was similar attack some two year's ago where the e-Citizen portal, bringing down services for two days.
Anonymous Sudan claimed responsibility for the attacks.
However, the government is yet to make arrests, despite making pronouncements to ensure the perpetrators are brought to book.
During the three-day forum, he said, the State is keen on addressing the cybersecurity challenges that the country, particularly the youth, are exposed to.
"We are looking at issues of law enforcement, how to we work closely with the judiciary to support in addressing the challenges or the concerns on cybercrime," he said.
Deputy Head of Mission of European Delegation to Kenya emphasised on collaboration between the African countries and the organisation to fight the menace.
"We are assisting in capacity building, and legislation which are the main instrument at the international level for standards, legislative standards on cybercrime," he said.
Supreme Court Judge Smokin Wanjala said the Kenyan judiciary conducts has embarked on trainings through the Kenyan Judiciary Academy for its judges and magistrates.
"It's to equip the judicial officers, judges and magistrates, prosecutors and investigators with knowledge about the content of cybercrime law and also knowledge on how to handle electronic evidence," he said.
"Unless judges are properly equipped, they are unlikely to render justice in the manner expected (7:34) because of the complexity of the crimes we are talking about here," he added.
The event brought together law enforcement agencies and officers, ministers, practitioners both in the private sector, the academia and the civil society drawn from across the African continent.
"We must be able to strengthen our collective capacity to detect, deter and prosecute cyberthreats while safeguarding the integrity of digital platforms across our borders," said Dr Omollo.
The PS added: "The conference is also focusing on sharing best practices in terms of the advancement that has happened within the technology space over the last couple of years.
