Increase cybersecurity courses in universities

Cabinet Secretary for Education, Prof. George Magoha when he made his remarks during the launch of Competency Based Curriculum(CBC) and training of teachers on competency based assessment on 23rd April 2019 at Uhuru primary in Lang'ata Nairobi. [Edward Kiplimo,Standard]

Last week, Education CS Professor George Magoha hinted that his Ministry could scrap some 107 degree courses currently being offered by our universities.

Whether that happens or not, there is an urgent need to increase cyber-security courses being offered by our universities.

According to 2019 survey by Yelbridges, only 5 percent of universities in Kenya offer IT-related bachelor courses with a major in cyber security.

This percentage is worrying, considering technological advancement and innovation are the drivers of key sectors like agriculture, education, financial services and health among others.

The Communications Authority of Kenya, in its latest report, points out that Kenya had an estimated 42.2 million active Internet/data users as of September 2018 compared to 41.1 million, same period in 2017.

The trend clearly shows that users are on the rise.

With the penetration of technology in the country, many organizations have borne the brunt of cyber-attacks, their business having been interrupted or at worse, shut down.

System security

In 2017, for example, Kenya Revenue Authority system was allegedly attacked and caused a huge loss. That year, Kenya lost Sh21.1 billion to cybercrime, according to Kenya Cybersecurity Report.

A year later, the systems of Family Bank and the defunct Chase bank were supposedly raided.

Following the rampant cyber-attacks on financial institutions, Central Bank of Kenya released a cybersecurity guideline, aiming to create a safer and more secure cyberspace that underpins information system security priorities for its institutions.

The report defines ‘cyber-crime’ or ‘the cyber threat’ as any a harmful activity, executed by one group or individual through computers, Information Technology (IT) systems and/or the internet and targeting the computers, IT infrastructure and internet presence of another entity.

But even with appropriate measures put in place, systems are being infiltrated and compromised every day in the financial sector, causing great losses.

We read media reports that tell of how the IT systems of these financial institutions, including Saccos, are being ransacked now and again.  

Cyber-crime

These system attacks signal great problems. One of our main problems is that we do not have enough experts in cyber-security.

We only have experts in computer science and programming. That perhaps explains why there are a few cyber-security firms in our country, and the active ones like Yelbridges are heavily relying on the expertise of experienced foreigners who have worked for global companies like with Symantec Corporation, MSN and SEC consult.

Without doubt, cybersecurity professionals are in high demand. Yet these professionals are just a bunch in the market.

The shortage of this workforce is as a result of lack of enough cyber security courses in our colleges and universities.

Even for the few that exist, there is limited trained personnel to teach security skills.

The shortage is so real that a few of the cyber-security firms like Yelbridges have started partnering with local universities to boost skills amongst students.

At USIU-Africa, the firm trains IT students on cyber-security through the Cyber4growth program and later fly them to Germany for further training.

This is a great move to combat cyber-crime. Some of the universities that offer IT degree courses focusing on cyber security include USIU, Strathmore, University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University.

Information Technology

Sometimes, however, trained security experts become redundant quickly as skills become obsolete with the ever-changing technology that demands continuous learning to remain afloat in the market. Admittedly, there are limited cyber-security experts on the globe.

According to Palo Alto Research Center, there is a global deficit of over 3 million professionals in the industry.

This puts over 65 percent of organizations reporting that they have a shortage of Information Technology staff dedicated to cyber security.

In Africa, there are less than 10,000 certified cyber security professionals to protect a population of over 1.3 billion people across the continent.

The cyber security workforce deficit in the country can only be addressed if the Ministry of Education increases the number of cyber-security courses in our colleges and universities.

This calls for a collaboration between Ministries of ICT and Education to close cyber risk gaps arising from a failure of IT systems.

It is also my hope that the shortage of skills locally will be discussed by stakeholders, during the Africa Cyber Defence Summit scheduled to take place in Nairobi in July 2019.

Mr Bosire writes on topical issues. [email protected]