Home Technology Safaricom Summit Warns of Growing Cyber Threats in Kenya

Safaricom Summit Warns of Growing Cyber Threats in Kenya

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Safaricom recently organized a two-day Cybersecurity Summit to commemorate the month of cybersecurity awareness across the industry. 

The event advocates for investment by businesses, governments, and individuals in technologies that protect sensitive data and critical systems from cyberattacks.

Themed “Secure Innovation, Unstoppable Growth for Kenyan Financial Services,” close to 500 cybersecurity leaders and professionals were brought together in one place during the event

The discussions revolved around the latest cybersecurity trends and how enterprise networks are evolving.

Ransomware, phishing, and social engineering remain some of the prominent ways cybercriminals intrude into financial systems,” said Ramakrishna Balagopa, Vice President Business – EMEA at SISA, Infosec Company.

He added, “These hacks have become more focused on being personalized. Attacks are carried out specifically keeping sensitive data and financial assets in mindOne should consider new technologies to enhance cybersecurity resilience.”

A 2024 Interpol African Cyberthreat assessment report showed that in Q2 2024, Africa received the highest average number of weekly cyberattacks per organization.

This is majorly because of the poor cybersecurity infrastructure that exists

The report noted that almost 90% of African businesses do not have cybersecurity protocols, making them open to attack.

For the period between April and June 2024, the Communications Authority in Kenya detected more than 1.1 billion cyberthreat events.

This is attributed to increased uptake of Internet of Things (IoT)poor system configurationunsupported software, and challenges occasioned by new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).

“Safaricom has varied solutions that connect, protect, enable, and transform the business and ensure continuity in case of any cyberattack,” said Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The CEO added, “We have security advisory, network security, online/data/web security, cybersecurity operations, physical security with video surveillance. We also have an enhanced cloud solution, reliable connectivity, and payment services.”

Safaricom Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Cynthia Kropac noted that with increased digitizationMSMEs equally face the danger of falling victim to cybercrime.

With digitization increasing globally, MSMEs have continued being vulnerable to cyberattacks because of a lack of knowledge on security threats and lack of means to counter the threats,” she said. “There’s a need to equip MSMEs with knowledge and practical training on how to identify and combat cyber threats, ultimately becoming more cyber-resilient,” she concluded.

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