Cyber criminals steal Sh21b from Kenyan firms, government

NAIROBI, KENYA: Kenyan firms and the government combined lost a whooping Sh21 billion to cyber-crime in 2017 compared to Sh8.5 billion in 2016, a new survey shows.

According to Serianu 2017 state of cyber security report banks lead in the loses with $70 million (Sh7 billion) followed by government and telcos at $50 million (Sh5 billion) and $30 million (Sh3 billion) respectively.

Fake news, ransomware, cyber bullying, pyramid schemes and phising also top cyber security issues online.

“We need to deal with cyber threats in the same way as we deal with diseases e.g. malaria and do things. Technology can be a course for different threats and we need to defend ourselves,” said Defence Cabinet Secretary Racheal Omamo.

“The government’s mission is to engage all stakeholders to promote awareness and collaboration including through public private partnerships.”

In 2016, the researcher noted that the revolution in mobile money in Africa opens avenue for unprecedented levels of fraud.

“Of the top twenty (20) countries in the world that are leading in mobile money usage, fifteen are in Africa.”

“These services have been integrated fully into numerous platforms such as banking, insurance and e-commerce, among others. Unfortunately, the adoption of these technologies has not been supplemented by secure controls, with most mobile money applications lacking basic security controls such as encryption of data.”

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